Once Upon A December
by Ying-Fa-dono
Summary: Sarah is haunted by visions of the Labyrinth, frozen under a thick sheet of ice. But she doesn't remember the Labyrinth at all. And who is this strange, handsome man who has come into her life? Is it Jareth? If so, why doesn't he remember her?
1. Prologue: Frozen

Ying-Fa: Did you miss me

**Ying-Fa: Did you miss me? I'm heeeeere again with a brand new Labyrinth fanfic. I was listening to the song "Once Upon A December" from Anastasia and this story just strolled right on into my Labyrinth filled head. Hence the title and so forth. Please read, review, and enjoy.**

The cold was terrible. It ran deep into his skin and chilled his blood, his bones freezing steadily. His breath rose before him in a mist that billowed from his nose and lips. His skin was becoming colorless and his lips had adorned a very unhealthy looking blue tinge.

Jareth, the Goblin King, stared out around what remained of his Labyrinth. Its walls were frozen rock solid and the floor was covered in a thick sheet of ice and snow. The cold and ice had been spreading for thirteen days now. It had all started when Hoggle had come bursting into his throne room to tell him that the entrance to the Labyrinth had become terribly cold and there had been an unnatural snowfall starting around the boundaries. Jareth knew immediately what was going on. Within the hour he gave the order for the goblins to start taking anything they needed from their homes, leaving unnecessary things behind. As the day ended, the door to the Labyrinth had been entirely covered by frost.

As the freeze spread creepily upon them, Jareth evacuated the entire Goblin City, telling its residents to seek shelter in the lower tunnels, where there was a chance that the frost might not reach. He sought out all of the other creatures, the Guards, the monster that roamed the hedges, the Wiseman, the fox that guarded the Bog of Stench, everyone he could. But, in some cases, the ice was faster than he was and he found them when it was already too late and they had been lost in the ice.

When he had done everything he could possibly think to save the creatures, then he began preparing his own way out. And now here he was, at the zero hour, waiting for the ice to consume his castle and, thus, himself. He waited patiently for the one he knew was coming. It should be long now. It was almost thirteen-o'-clock, and he knew that once the hour struck, all would be lost. He didn't dare check on the goblins that had made it to the tunnels. He hoped that they had made it out alright.

Jareth looked down at the necklace he had in his hand. A linked, silver chain and attached was a small, crystal sphere just like the ones he conjured when he used magic. This necklace was to be his lifeline. His only shot at restoring his Labyrinth and seeking his revenge. He looked at the little crystal ball, his misty breath fogging it slightly. How could things have gotten so out of control? How had it come to this? Now this was his last and only resort. He prayed to anyone who might be listening that this plan of his would work.

He raised the necklace to his bluish lips and pressed the crystal ball against them. He hoped, wherever he was to go now, that he might find what it was he longed to find. Praying once more that this wasn't about to be the death of him, he tossed the necklace into the air. Before it could fall, it vanished into thin air.

Somewhat mollified, Jareth turned back to the frigid remains of his Labyrinth. He hated this. He hated waiting around for something to be done. He hated the feeling of waiting around in his castle waiting for his own doom. If only the one he was looking for would just show up already. Stupid show-off always did like to make an entrance.

But then, Jareth heard footsteps behind him. "I've been waiting for you," he said.

The young man stepped out of the shadows behind Jareth. Jareth heard him approach and didn't turn around to face him. The figure was holding a long, diamond staff and was dressed in an icy blue robe that was embroidered with gold and trimmed with fluffy white fur. The hood was up and the figure's face was hidden in shadow.

"You were expecting me and yet you do not fight me," said the figure. "You sure are something else, my lord Jareth. I see why they are so scared of you."

Jareth let out a mirthless laugh. "Them? They are weak-hearted fools who haven't the faintest bit of backbone. If they did, you wouldn't be here."

The figure chuckled. "That's true. But I wouldn't be much of a slave if I didn't do as they bid. You can't seem to take your eyes off my handiwork. Do you like it?"

"I can't honestly say that I do," said Jareth. "It sickens me."

"I guess I kinda deserved that one," said the figure. "I'm not a very popular party guest, you see."

Jareth turned around at last and faced the newcomer. "So, what happens now?" he asked, his voice as cold as the frost outside. "Is this where I'm supposed to beg for my life? If that is the case, I'm very sorry to say that you will be very disappointed. I'm not the type to bend my knees to anyone."

The figure reached up and lowered his hood to reveal a handsome young face with short, silvery hair and crystalline eyes, a fine nose, white lips and skin white as snow. "I would never expect you to bend to me, my lord Jareth," he said with a smile. "You are far too noble for that. I've merely come to offer you a bargain."

"Bargain?" said Jareth, raising an ice-flecked eyebrow. "That's strange. I didn't think you'd offer any kind of bargain to your prey, Boreas."

Boreas grinned. "I don't mind you, Jareth," he said. "Not like they do. They are terrified of some silly little thing that may never happen."

Jareth lowered his gaze. The image of a young woman appeared in his mind. Green-eyed and ebony haired, so close and yet so far. "I see what you mean. You said you had a bargain? What was it again?"

"I haven't said it yet, Your Silliness," said Boreas, chuckling as he mocked Jareth. "Everything that I've done, I can fix. I am the only one with the power to melt this ice. I could melt it for you, you can go into hiding, and I will tell them that you are as dead as a doornail, and they'll never know any the wiser."

_Now the tricky part,_ thought Jareth. "And in exchange for this generosity?"

Boreas smiled. "Well, you'll have to find a way to break my chains and set me free, for starters."

_Fine, not a problem._

"You'll have to unchain my beloved brothers and set them free as well."

_Again, fine._

"And one last thing," said Boreas, now looking strangely serious. "I want the girl."

Jareth stared hard at Boreas, how had lost his playful smiles and laughs now. "I want to be human. I want the girl that defeated the Labyrinth and have her for my own."

Jareth was very quiet for a long time. He knew he couldn't keep this up. It was getting colder and colder and he knew that by now the castle was starting to freeze, both on the inside and out. "If you had her," he said, softly. "What would you do with her?"

"I just told you," said Boreas. "I want to be human. You know what that means."

Jareth stared at Boreas for a long time, then let out a little laugh and smiled.

"Never," he replied.

Boreas frowned. "Are you sure? It doesn't have to be this way. Think closely on this, Jareth. Freeing me and my brothers should be a walk in the park for you. And _think_, Jareth. _Think_ about what she did. Don't you want revenge?"

Jareth's smile was now as cold as he felt and he shook his head. "She's not the one I want revenge on. She is the one thing that I will never, ever, give up. That is the most honest truth that I can possibly say. And I _won't_ let you have her. Never."

Boreas let out a sad sigh. "It really is a shame you don't want to accept my offer. I really didn't mind you."

"I know," said Jareth, grimly. "Now complete your duty and get out."

Boreas bowed his head. "As you wish, my lord Jareth. Don't say I didn't try." And with that, he vanished.

Jareth sighed and looked out the window. It was now so cold he could no longer stand it. Boreas was gone. He'd have to act quickly. Suddenly he saw the door to his room start to freeze over. Quietly, he began to murmur under his breath. His one chance. His only lifeline. The ice spread from the door and covered the walls and the floor, pooling into the room and freezing everything in its path.

Jareth chanted faster and faster. The ice was completely covering everything in the room; everything was frozen in the room, except him. But that wouldn't last long. The ice circled around him, leaving only a tiny circle of floor around him as he whispered frantically. The ice crept nearer and nearer to his boots as he whispered and then, finally, it made contact with his boots.

Jareth's entire being began to shake beyond control as the ice crept up, up over his boots and reaching his legs. It was like hundreds upon thousands of needles were being driven deeper and deeper into his skin. He never let up his chanting. He couldn't afford to stop. He was now up to his waist in frost. The pain was unbearable! He had to keep going. He was cold. So, so cold. Just a few more words and it would be finished.

His voice stuttered in his throat. He couldn't continue to talk for much longer. The frost had reached his chest. He let out a gasp as the devilish needles of pain pierced his heart. _Have it end already, _he moaned in his head. _Anything to make it stop!_

The last few words slipped from his throat along with a gasp as his arms iced over and the frost crept up his throat.

"_Sar-!_"

In seconds, it was over. The Goblin King stood in the midst of his room, consumed by the wicked frost.

**Ying-Fa: IT GET'S HAPPIER! This is not a one-shot death fic! This is only the beginning of something much more. Just tell me what you think and I promise upon promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Please like me! Be gentle!**


	2. Winter Shopping

**Ying-Fa: Yay! Reviews, reviews! I love reviews! I hope you keep reading and reviewing like good little readers. I'm so touched that you chose to read my fic. Please enjoy. So you know this has no connection whatsoever to my last Labyrinth story. **

The cold wind blew harshly down upon them. It bit at their faces and making them cling tighter to their warm clothing. The two young women walked slowly through the snow and wind. Then, one of the two companions began to complain loudly.

"Jeez, Sar, why do we have to do our shopping on the coldest day of the year?"

Sarah Williams sighed at her friend and roommate, Jessie McBride. Jessie could be something of a whiner sometimes, but things were rarely dull with her around.

"I already told you, Jess," said Sarah, simply. "I still need to find a Christmas present for my stepmother."

"But you don't even like your stepmother," Jessie reminded her. "Why sacrifice your energy fighting through a blizzard to get a gift for someone you don't even like?"

"Because, like it or not, she is my family," said Sarah with a sigh. She'd had to explain this to Jessie several times. "I know we may not get along, but she still sends me things for Christmas and I think that it is only fair if I keep the peace."

Jessie sighed and pulled her scarf tighter around her neck. "I don't see why we had to walk all over the Old Village. We have cars now, Sar, so we actually could have been warm as we did your Christmas shopping."

"Oh, come on, Jess," said Sarah, grinning. "Where is your sense of adventure?"

"In India, where it's warm," complained Jessie, rubbing her hands together and shoving them into her pockets.

Sarah sighed, her breath streaming out in a mist before her. It was often this way with Jessie. She had been a very pampered girl in her youth and that had carried with her when she grew up. She fussed about the littlest things and lacked a sense of compassion.

Jessie and Sarah were actually two completely different people. Jessie preferred to spend her days at parties and hanging out with boys, whereas Sarah liked to stay indoors, catch up on her school work and read. Jessie liked to do her shopping at the mall and purchase all sorts of things that she didn't (and probably would never) need. Sarah liked to take her time and explore the older, little shops downtown in the Old Village and liked to simply browse and not really buy anything. Nevertheless, the two roommates seemed to maintain a steady friendship that made them able to put up with each other.

The two girls had met when they learned they would be roommates in their dorm at Meyer College. It was a fine institution that offered all sorts of art scholarships. Jessie had come there to study dance and Sarah had gone to study creative writing. Sarah could tell her new roommate wasn't very keen to share a dorm with her, but she had remained friendly and cheerful all thorough the get-to-know-you stage and they, eventually, agreed to become friends. Sarah was now twenty-three years of age and was looking forward to going home for Christmas to see her family.

"So, what exactly are you going to get her for Christmas?" Jessie asked.

"I'm not sure," said Sarah. "Irene is so hard to shop for. Maybe we can try a few antique shops. I know she likes antiques."

Sarah suddenly noticed a sign over one of the old shops on their side of the road. It read: Jezebel's Antiques. Jewelry, Furniture, French & Chinese imports.

"Hey, that looks good," said Sarah. "Let's try in there."

"A _junk_ shop?" said Jessie, warily. "Sar, why do I let you talk me into these things?"

"We're just gonna look around," Sarah insisted. "Then we can do whatever you wanna do."

"Just make it quick," said Jessie. "I've got a date with Gene tonight and I wanna get ready."

"Sure, sure," said Sarah as they entered the shop.

The shop was completely cluttered with all sorts of pretty and interesting things. A roll-top desk, and old-fashioned couch, a vanity, a wardrobe, and five small coffee tables where all stuffed into the tiny space will all sorts of little trinkets cluttered on top of, inside of, or around all of the objects. A multitude of porcelain figurines were placed all over the vanity and there was a basket of various paperweights on one of the coffee tables. Another table had a silver tray full of cookies and another table had several ornate boxes with all sorts of jewelry and in a corner was a dress-maker's dummy with all sorts of pins placed in it.

The only hitch to all this was the eager-looking woman standing behind the counter who was watching them with wide, expectant eyes.

"Welcome," she said, a little too enthusiastically. "Come in and look around. Everything here is twenty percent off. Those cookies are free. Help yourself to whatever you want. There is more stuff in the back, if you are interested. Make sure to look in the back." She said all of this very fast. Jessie gave Sarah a withering look as they walked inside.

Jessie went over to the other side of the store to examine some old fur coats and purses while Sarah looked over at the porcelain figures. She found one of a blonde little girl in a white dress holding a parasol and leading a little white dog on a leash. Irene might think that was cute, so she picked it up and looked over it, checking for a price tag.

"Everything is twenty percent off," said the store owner, looking excited that Sarah had picked something up. "Those are imported figurines, you know. And those coats are authentic, miss!" she called in a creepy-happy voice as Jessie flipped disrespectfully through the coats.

Sarah took the figurine and moved over to the jewelry. She wanted to make sure there wasn't anything better in here before she bought the figure. Sarah flicked carefully through the assortment of pearls and pendants, rings and bracelets, earrings and anklets, to see if anything looked decent.

"Can I help you with anything?" asked the owner, grinning at Sarah with an amazing number of teeth.

"Oh, um, no thank you," said Sarah. "I'm just looking."

"Well, let me know," said the owner. "Those cookies over there are for free."

Sarah turned away and tried to ignore the feeling of the owner staring her down from behind. It was then that something caught Sarah's eye. A small, lead box that was slightly open, revealing a tiny glitter of chains. Sarah opened the box and skimmed through the contents with her finger. The necklaces in here were smaller and less gaudy than the ones on open display. It was most likely that Irene would like one of these smaller necklaces compared to the bigger ones.

Then she found it.

Amidst the rest of the chains and charms, Sarah discovered a small, round, completely clear ball. She took it between her thumb and index finger and lifted it out of the box. The ball was attached to a silver, link chain to be worn around the neck. Sarah stared at the little sphere. It looked . . . somehow . . . familiar.

Jessie stormed over to Sarah and hissed in her ear. "Don't eat the cookies," she said. "They are revolting! Hurry up and buy your stuff so we can get out of here! That woman is creeping me out."

"Hm?" said Sarah, tearing her eyes from the crystal. "Oh. Oh, yeah! Um, okay Jess. We can go now. I'm just gonna . . . gonna buy this then I'll . . . I'll be done."

Sarah hesitated. She wasn't really the type to wear jewelry. She really had no reason to buy the necklace. Irene wouldn't like it, so she shouldn't buy it. The figurine was all she really . . . needed . . . to buy.

_Do you want it?_

Turning around Sarah marched over to the owner, placed the figurine on the counter, hesitated, and then placed the necklace on the counter along side it. The owner grinned excitedly as she rang up Sarah's items.

"Ten for the figure," she said. "And four for the necklace. That's fourteen dollars, miss."

Sarah reached into her purse and started rummaging through the dollar bills in there.

"Hey," said Jessie, behind her. "What is the necklace for?"

"Um," said Sarah, distracted. "Oh, um. I, er, I kinda like it."

Jessie looked at the crystal necklace with something that might have been a sneer. "That gaudy thing? Well, it is your world, honey. I'm just in it."

"Thanks Jess," said Sarah, handing the owner a twenty. The owner placed the money in a cash register, handed Sarah her change, then wrapped the figurine in newspaper and fit it in a box.

"Would you like to wear the necklace?" the owner asked Sarah, brightly.

"Oh, um, sure," said Sarah, taking it from her. She placed it around her neck and snapped the clasp together.

"There," said the owner, smiling. "Now you have your own little crystal ball, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Sarah, smiling politely back. She and Jessie then turned and left the shop.

"Jess, I really wish you'd be more polite," said Sarah as the wintry cold swept over them again.

"What?" said Jessie, shrugging. "It isn't like I said anything to her face."

"Not everybody is as fortunate as you and has a doctor for a dad and a lawyer for a mom," said Sarah. "Some of us have to work for our happiness."

"Than you need to do a better job than by selling junk," said Jessie, matter-of-factly. "Hey, Sar. How is your car? You never drive it. Is it, like, broken or something?"

"No," said Sarah. "Why?"

"Well, my car still isn't back from the shop," said Jessie. "Can you give me a ride to and back from my dance lesson on Thursday?"

"I don't see why not," said Sarah, simply.

"Thanks," said Jessie. "You're a big help. Oh, I have the _cutest_ new dance partner. If things don't work out with Gene, I am _so_ asking him out."

Sarah sighed, preparing to hear another one of Jessie's rants about how many hot guys she wanted to ask out, then she brushed past a man walking in the opposite direction.

Almost against her will, her head turned to watch the man behind her. She'd missed the change to see his face but as he walked by, Sarah felt the strangest inkling to turn around and watch him. From behind, all she could see was his blond hair and his long, black coat. She stopped walking and simply stared after the man, just as transfixed with him as she had been with the necklace back in the shop.

"Sar? What's up, Sar?"

Sarah tore her eyes away from the man and looked back at Jessie. "Huh?"

Jessie stared at Sarah. "Are you feeling okay? You seem a bit off today."

"I'm fine," said Sarah. "I was just . . ."

But as she turned around, the man was gone. Frowning, Sarah continued walking, not noticing her new necklace give off a strange glow as the stranger passed.

**Ying-Fa: There it is! Tell me what you think. That scene about the crazy antique lady is actually semi-autobiographical. The owner stared at me the whole time and kept telling me everything was twenty percent off. It was SCARY! If you have any comments, complaints, questions, then press that little purple button and I'll be there to answer. Thank you!**


	3. Meeting Him

**Ying-Fa: Oi! That took awhile! Here we are again. The next chapter is here. May you find solace in its contents. Remember to leave those delicious reviews.**

Sarah sat down on her bed, peeled off her socks and rubbed her freezing toes. Jessie was already starting to gussy up for her date tonight and was chatting absentmindedly about this and that with Sarah only half listening.

"I don't see why you don't go out more often yourself, Sar," she was saying as she started curling her hair and rummaging through her clothes, looking for the best outfit to wear. "I know tons of guys who are _so_ your type. Really, I think you could hit it off with some of them."

"I'm just not interested, okay?" said Sarah dully, still trying to bring her toes back to life. "I've got a lot of work to do and I'm not really the social type anyway."

"Sar, you seriously need to have more fun," said Jessie, putting down her curling iron. "I can easily get you the best date of your life with one phone call, seriously."

"How would you know what my type is?" said Sarah. "How could you possibly know the type of guy I'd like to date when I don't even really know."

"Because, sweetie, your roommate has _skills_," said Jessie, holding up two dresses in front of her. "Which is better? Red or blue?"

Sarah stared at the two dresses. She had the strangest feeling she'd been asked a question like this before. "Um, blue."

"I think I'll go with red," said Jessie, throwing the blue dress aside and going into the bath room to change.

Sarah sighed and looked out the window. They'd arrived back at the dorm just in time. Snow was falling in thick, heavy flakes outside the window and was piling up on the streets and the windowsill. Sarah reached into her back and took out the boxed figurine that she'd bought her stepmother for Christmas and carried it over to her side of the small closet that she and Jessie shared.

Their dorm room was hardly big enough for two people, but Sarah and Jessie still managed a reasonably healthy lifestyle from being closeted together. Four walls and three doors. One door leading to the closet, one leading outside, and one leading to the very small bathroom that somehow managed to fit a toilet and a shallow bathtub with a shower head inside.

The closet mostly was stuffed full of Jessie's fancy clothes, with some of Sarah's shirts hung squished together at the very end. Sarah took a box from off the top shelf and opened it up to peer inside. She'd had this box for years now, before she even started school. It was where she kept the things she'd planned to use as gifts for her family. Whenever she was out, she often saw things she liked to buy that would make good gifts for various members of her family. So, she bought them right then and there, no matter how far away the occasion was, and stored them in this box. Inside was everything she'd planned to give her family for Christmas. There was a book about easy, do-it-yourself, household care tips that she bought for her dad, a collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber sheet music that she bought for her mother, and a tiny set of tin toy knights that she'd bought for Toby.

She'd put the figure in the box with the rest of the gifts and put the box back when Jessie came out of the bathroom, looking stunning in her red dress.

"What time are you supposed to meet Gene?" said Sarah as Jessie rummaged through her thousands of shoes for a pair that matched her dress.

"Seven," replied Jessie. "But I ought to head out soon. He might come early just in case it . . . oh, no! It's snowing again!" Jessie cursed. "In that case I'd better go now."

"And why does the fact that it's snowing make you have to leave now?" asked Sarah.

"Because Gene is super cautious when it snows and it will take us an eternity to get to the party," said Jessie. "He drives so slowly."

"Are you meeting him at his dorm?"

"Yeah. Well, I'd better be off. Bye, babe." And she hurried off, still putting on her shoes.

Sarah watched her go and rubbed her arms. She was still cold from the walk earlier, so she decided to take a hot bath to help warm her up before she sat down and finished reading the stories her teacher had assigned her in her literature class. Fiddling a bit with her new necklace, she went into the bathroom and saw that the sink and toilet were covered in various tubes of lipstick, cases of cover-up and blush, and all the rest of Jessie's make up. Sarah gave a small sigh, turned on the hot water in the tub, and started to clean up Jessie's make up as the tub filled steadily with water.

When all the make up had been put away and the tub was full of steamy water, Sarah undressed and slid into the tub. Instant relief washed over her as she relaxed in the water. She often found college life bearable when she had moments like this. Jessie was out, there was no noise other than the occasional drip of water from the faucet, and she could simply relax and think on things. Usually she thought of ideas for essays and other papers she had to write for her classes. Today, however, her mind dwindled back to her family.

She couldn't wait to go home and see them. She'd missed her family so much since she'd left to go to college. Sarah missed her father, Robert, and his easy going, peacemaker's attitude that made even the fiercest arguments calm down. She was also truly looking forward to see her stepmother, Irene. Not because they'd reconciled, but because Irene happened to be a really good cook and her delectable dinners would be sweet relief from the terrible ordeal of cheap, college food she'd had to endure for the most part of the last three years. She was also dying to see Toby again. How she missed the little tyke! Sarah couldn't believe he was going to turn nine . . . nine! . . . in a few months time. Sarah slid deeper into the water. She'd been writing to Toby on and off again while she was at school, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.

Sarah dipped her head under the water and brought it back up again, whipping her hair out of her eyes. _It wasn't always like that_, she remembered slowly. _There was a time when I didn't want anything to do with Toby._ And it was true. About eight years ago, when Toby had been just a baby and she'd been a fifteen-year-old brat, she'd used to wish that Toby would simply disappear. But then . . . what happened? One day that changed completely. Sarah had no idea what had changed her mind about Toby, but one day, after a stormy night, her perspective of her little brother had turned around completely. Then, shortly after that, she'd made it her job to rid her room of all her toys and things. To this day, Sarah still didn't know what had happened to have changed her aspect of life so completely.

Sarah climbed out of the tub and dried herself off before throwing on her white bathrobe and getting cozy in her bed with her book and started to read. She spent the rest of the evening like that, bundled up and reading. Just the way she liked it.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah drove carefully through the snowy roads to Jessie's dance class to pick her up. Jessie had come home from her date with Gene in very good spirits and chatted all about the evening with gusto as Sarah had driven her to her class, dropped her off, then drove over to the big library downtown, where she borrowed a few books that looked interesting. At four-o'-clock, she hopped back into her car and went to go pick Jessie up and head back to the dorm.

To Sarah's annoyance, Jessie wasn't waiting for her outside. Sarah parked and looked up and the large, white brick building with dismay. She didn't like going into Jessie's classes. She never failed to notice the other dancers eyeing her as she stood around and waited for Jessie to finish whatever she was doing. They all had a haughty look to them and Sarah really preferred to stay out of their company. Nevertheless, she got out of the car and went inside. The walls were covered in mirrors and the wooden floor was polished so well that it could have been a fifth mirror reflecting the dancers from below. Sarah scanned the room quickly, trying to find Jessie and get out quickly.

Then she saw him.

In the corner of the room, leaning casually against one of the mirrored walls, was a man in a long, black coat. Sarah stared at him. He had a sharp, handsome face that was void of expression, short, white-blonde hair, and he wore a white shirt and denim jeans under the long coat. His arms were folded and he was eyeing the dancers with mild interest. There was something about him that made it impossible for Sarah to look away. Did she know him? She didn't think so.

Sarah suddenly remembered she still had to find Jessie. She tore her eyes off the stranger and scanned the room for her friend, but didn't see her. Perhaps she was in the back talking to the instructor, Alfred, like she sometimes did. She was just about to walk over to the door leading to Al's office when a hand tapped her shoulder.

"Are you looking for someone?"

Sarah spun around and her breath caught in her throat. It was the stranger. She noticed at once that his eyes were mismatched. One pupil was more dilated than the other.

"Oh," she said, flustered. "Um, I was . . . I was looking for . . . um . . . my friend. She . . . she has lessons here."

The man smiled an oddly sinister smile. But, it wasn't an unattractive one either. Sarah felt so stupid. Why couldn't she just stop gawking at this guy? But there was just something about him that was so strange. The way his smile didn't really look like a smile and his eyes seemed almost sad as they stared down at her.

"Sar!"

Sarah turned around. There was Jessie and Al coming toward them. Jessie was smiling brightly, but Al was looking from Sarah to the man with an odd expression on his face.

"Oh, Jess," said Sarah, finally looking away from the man. "There you are. Are you ready to go?"

"Yup," said Jessie. "Later, Freddie." she added to her instructor. Sarah could help but notice that she also gave the stranger an appreciative once-over before she and Sarah headed for the door.

"What took you?" Sarah asked as they got into her car and started back toward the dorm. "I even made sure to come a little later than you told me to."

"Oh, I had questions for all about a certain competition that I've been looking into," said Jessie, brightly. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"No, not that long," said Sarah, simply. "Um, that man with the black coat. Who was he?"

"Some friend of Freddie's," said Jessie. "So, even you noticed him, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah asked hotly.

"Well, you don't take interest in these things like I do," said Jessie, brightly. "But seriously, he is _yummy!_"

Sarah gaped at Jessie in disbelief. "You _just_ got done drooling over Gene!"

"One loves a good variety," said Jessie.

"Whatever," said Sarah, shaking her head. "Do you even know his name?"

"No," said Jessie, frowning thoughtfully. "Freddie just said that he was there to observe, that's about it. I don't think his name was ever mentioned."

Sarah frowned, still thinking about the stranger. Why hadn't she been able to look anywhere except his strange eyes? And why had he seemed so familiar to her? She'd never met him before!

**Ying-Fa: There you go, people. Tell me what you think. I'm sorry about the time it took. It's been one of **_**those**_** weeks. Please leave me beautiful reviews. It helps to write when you know people like what you're doing.**


	4. Silent Night

**Ying-Fa: Here we are, the next chapter. So there's no confusion, Jessie's dance instructor's name is Alfred, but he goes by two separate nicknames. He goes by both Al (the name generally used by men) and Freddie (the name generally used by women). So, when you hear the names Al and Freddie, they are the same man. Just avoiding confusion. Please read and tell me what you think.**

_All around was fluttering snow and endless cold. The glittering snow swirled all around in an endless blizzard, but through the falling snow there was a wall. A large wall of stone, covered in a thick layer of ice. There was also a small pool of water, frozen rock solid and littered around in the fallen snow were . . . _

_Fairies._

_Actual fairies. Their wings were iced over, so they could no longer fly. Their white hair glittered with frost and their skins blue from the cold. They were completely frozen. It was a heart-wrenching sight to see the poor little creatures curled up into balls in vain attempts to warm themselves from a cold they could not survive in, laying helpless in the snow._

_Looking past the sad sight of the frozen fairies and to the great stone wall was a pair of great doors, also covered in ice and snow. The ice around the hinges snapped and cracked as the doors struggled to open, managing to do so just barely with much creaking and groaning. Inside there were more stone walls. These were covered in strange, frozen fungi that had eyes, but the pupils of the eyes were milk white and blind in death. The frost had taken them just as it had taken the fairies._

_The icy hallways stretched out in two directions. To explore more of this frigid place one would have to make a decision, using their own wits and means. One end running endlessly in one direction, the other running endlessly in the opposite direction._

_"Now, would you go left or right?"_

Sarah woke up with a shiver. She was back in her nice warm bed in her dorm room. Jessie was asleep in the bed across from hers, a sleeping mask placed over her eyes. She sat up and rubbed her arms. That dream had left her feeling cold in more than one way, in ways that her down-comforter and her silky nightgown couldn't help.

Sarah reached up and touched the necklace she wore around her neck. She'd put it on after picking Jessie up from her dance class, simply because she'd wanted to wear it, and hadn't bothered to take it off when she'd gone to bed. She reached back, undid the clasp and pulled it off from around her neck. The round, crystalline sphere winked cheerfully up at her from the wintry moonlight that streamed in through the window. Sarah stared at it for awhile, transfixed, thinking about her strange dream. She'd seen fairies frozen in the snow, felt a wave of sorrow for the poor things, walked through a pair of frosted doors and into a passage that ran endlessly in both directions. Then, she'd heard a voice. One that she'd never heard before. A deep, gruff voice that she didn't know, but it had sounded so familiar.

Sliding out of bed, Sarah went over to the window and stared out into the night. It had started to snow again, just as it had been snowing in her dream. Things didn't look too good. She might have her classes canceled from frozen roads.

Pushing the dream out of her mind, Sarah tried to think of something to distract her thoughts. Her mind fell on the man from Jessie's dance lesson. The man with the mismatched eyes. The man with whose smile looked like a frown.

Twirling her necklace around, Sarah tried to wonder what could possibly make a person seem so melancholy. He had been handsome, he had been surrounded by beautiful dancers, what was there to be sad about?

_Maybe he's lonely,_ Sarah wondered, absentmindedly. _Or maybe he's got a really destructive girlfriend. Or maybe he'd dying of cancer. Or maybe . . ._

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by Jessie grumbling and rolling over in her sleep. Sarah wasn't worried. Jessie took sleeping pills every night before she went to bed. She had had problems with insomnia ever since she had been little and couldn't ever get to sleep without their assistance. The pills tended to make her a little groggy in the mornings, but other than that they had no side-effect on her personality. If she was ever awoken while still under their influence, however, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Shutting the necklace safely back in her drawer, Sarah got back into bed and curled up under her blankets, still thinking about the stranger. Whatever had been the matter with him, she certainly hoped that he wasn't dying of cancer, and she really hoped that he wasn't lonely, and for some reason she really, really didn't want him to have a destructive girlfriend . . .

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

He watched as the snow fell outside his window. With a discontented sigh he pulled a cigarette from the pack on his bedside table, put it into his mouth, lit it with a lighter he kept in his pocket, and took a long pull on it. He wasn't entirely sure why he had started this habit in the first place. He wasn't entirely fond of it and he only did it at night when his head was so full of thoughts that sleep wasn't an option, but there were times he really just needed a cigarette. Maybe it was just the need to have something to do with himself.

Just as a long stream of smoke issued from his lips, he heard a knock at the door of his apartment. Not bothering to put out his cigarette, he went over to answer it. He already knew who it would be long before he opened the door. He only ever had one visitor at hours like these. Indeed, he only ever had one visitor at all. He pulled open the door and there stood Alfred, smiling carelessly at him.

"Good evening, Jared. Couldn't sleep, I see."

Jared smiled. "One of these days, I actually will be asleep and then I'll have you to blame for waking me up."

"One can only hope," said Al. "Mind if I step in?"

Jared stepped aside and Al walked into the apartment. It wasn't very much for a place to live. The shag carpet was worn and faded, the walls needed repainting, and there was hardly any furniture to speak of. Only a table with two chairs, a fridge, and an oven in the living room, a futon and a bedside table in the bedroom, and a small bathroom.

"I see you've modified the place," said Al, serenely walking over to the table and sitting down. "Seriously, Jared, it looks just like it did when I let you have it. People will think you have no personality."

Jared shrugged and took another pull on his cigarette. Al grinned. Jared could tell why he was so popular with women. They adored Al's charming smile, dark hair and mischievous eyes. They seemed to think he was enigmatic and cool, but Jared thought it made him look a bit like a crook or pervert of some kind.

"So, couldn't sleep again, huh?" Al asked conversationally, sitting down at the table. Jared joined him.

"Not really," he said. "I was asleep for awhile. But then I dreamed and I woke up."

"You dreamed?" said Al, looking a bit alarmed. "What did you dream?"

Jared shrugged. "Snow, ice, the usual things," he said, dismissively. As if he'd go further and tell Al that he'd dreamt of frozen fairies and strange passages leading on forever.

"So," prompted Al. "There was nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing," replied Jared, tapping his cigarette so that a bit of ash off the end fell onto the carpet.

Al sighed. "Three years, Jared," he said disbelievingly. "Three whole years. That is three springs, three summers, three falls, and three . . ."

"Winters," Jared finished for him. "That's right, three years and almost nothing has changed."

"But the doctors said something was bound to come back by now," said Al, concerned. "But there's still nothing?"

"No," said Jared, pulling on his cigarette again. "Nothing."

Al sighed. He got up and went into Jared's bedroom, then came back with one of his cigarettes. Jared handed him the lighter and he lit the tip of it. "You are so depressing you make even poor old me resort to smoking," said Al with a weak grin.

"Well, I'm sorry you find me so depressing," said Jared, reproachfully.

"Not just you," said Al. "Just your condition. It's just kinda sad that, after three years, you still don't remember anything about yourself."

Jared shrugged. "It could be worse," he said, dully.

"I guess so," said Al. "Still, amnesia is still amnesia. All those shrinks you saw were sure you'd remember something before long."

"Well, shows what they know, doesn't it," said Jared, he got up and put out his nearly finished cigarette in an ashtray near the sink. "I'm not entirely bothered by it, to be honest."

"Not bothered," said Al, looking shocked. "You don't know where you came from or even who you are and that doesn't bother you? It would bother me, I can tell you that right now!"

"Al, what if I don't want to know who I am," snapped Jared. "I could be anybody, couldn't I? For all you know, you could be letting a murderer or a drug dealer live in your spare apartment, now couldn't you?"

Al smiled. "You are no murderer, Jared," he said, softly. "And you certainly aren't a drug dealer."

"Oh, and how can you be so sure," said Jared, turning around and looking at him skeptically.

"It's in your personality," said Al, lowering his cigarette from his lips. "You aren't the type to be a murderer and, smoking habit aside, you are way too healthy to be a drug dealer. I was there when the doctors defrosted you, remember? Yup, if I had to guess as to whom you used to be, I'd say you are an extremely wealthy bachelor, probably born filthy rich so you've never known poverty and have a smoking-hot super model fiancée waiting for you to come home."

Jared smiled humorlessly. "Really? Then why isn't she looking for me?"

Al's smile faded. "I've looked, Jared. Trust me, I've looked. I've checked all sorts of missing persons reports from all over. I've even checked abroad. There's . . . there's none for you. I'm sorry."

Jared shrugged. "Haven't I just said that I really don't care about finding out who I am? Odds are I don't even want to know. So, let's just forget it."

"I suppose you're the only one with the right to decide," he said, dully. "Oh well. But, seriously, if you don't care for finding out your past, why don't you work on building a future?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean try and find something to do with yourself," said Al. "You can tell by just looking around this place that you are a man in serious need for a beautiful and delicate flower to brighten up the place. And by "flower" I most certainly mean "woman"."

Jared snorted. "Honestly, Al. Just how do you expect that to happen?"

"You're a good enough looking guy Jared . . ."

"What do you mean 'enough'?"

". . . and I'm sure there are plenty of women who would love to find themselves in your company. You saw the women in my dance class. Didn't you see anyone you like? I'll tell you what, the beauty of being a professionally dancer is the number of unbelievable girls that you come across. All the remarks about having a woman's career all fade into nothingness when you are surrounded by beautiful women, I'll have you know."

"I still don't know how I'd feel about that," said Jared, dismissively.

"Why not?" said Al, but then he looked worried. "I mean . . . y'know . . . you're not . . ."

"No!" snapped Jared. "It's just that it would be a little difficult to maintain a relationship with the fact that I can't even remember my own name hanging around."

"Well, that's fair," said Al, putting out his cigarette. "Why did you choose the name Jared, anyway? I've always wondered."

"It sounded more right than anything else," said Jared, with a shrug. "It still isn't right, but it's more right."

"Still, there wasn't anyone who caught your attention at least? I saw you talking to someone."

Jared suddenly remembered. "That's right. Al, who was that girl?"

"Um, I can't remember. What did she look like?"

"Dark hair, green eyes, kinda pale, I didn't think she was a student of yours. But she said she was looking for a friend."

"Oh, that must have been Jessie's roommate," said Al, nodding as he remembered. "She comes in every now and again to see Jessie. Did you think she was cute?"

"Cute isn't quite the word I'd use," said Jared. "So, she's not a dancer. Do you know her name?"

"No," said Al, slowly. "I mean, Jessie might have mentioned it once or twice but I can't remember. I think it starts with a . . . c? That's what comes into my head, anyway."

Jared lowered his gaze, thinking about the girl. She hadn't said her name, but he hadn't had time to ask. He wished he had. She'd been a very lovely girl . . .

"Well, I think I've invaded your life long enough," said Al, getting to his feet. "Oh, and by the way, you may live here but I'm still the one paying to keep it and if you tough the thermostat and turn it to ninety degrees again, I'm gonna have to kick you out."

"You know I hate the cold," said Jared, staring bitterly out of the falling snow.

"Doesn't make the bill any cheaper," said Al. "Later."

Jared watched his only friend in the world walk out the door. He went back into his room for another cigarette. It hadn't been a good day. Lighting it and staring out the window at the falling snow, Jared allowed his thoughts to wonder back to the girl from earlier. She really had been pretty and, though he didn't dare mention it to Al, he'd had the strangest feeling as he'd looked at her. Like he knew her but he didn't know her. She certainly hadn't seemed to know him, anyway. Who had she been? Did she have a boyfriend?

"Who are you?" Jared wondered aloud, taking a pull on his cigarette. "What are you thinking about now?"

**Ying-Fa: There it is again! Tell me what you think. FYI: Don't follow the examples of Jared and Alfred. Smoking is very, very bad for you. It gives you lung cancer and heart disease. The only reason I had Jared doing it is because David Bowie does it . . . a lot. Regardless, tell me what you think.**

**Nagini-chan: She's right. It isn't healthy. Don't do it. **


	5. Frusteration and Relaxation

**Ying-Fa: Thank you to everybody who reviewed. They are so wonderful. I was most relieved to hear that David Bowie quit smoking. I promise Jared won't be doing it for very long. He'll find that he . . . won't need to for much longer. There's a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge, hint, hint for you all. Please enjoy.**

"So, Jared, how have you been doing? Anything interesting happen this past week?"

Jared leaned back in the leather chair in Dr. Hanson's office. He hated being here. He knew that Hanson was only trying to help him, but seeing a shrink really wasn't how he'd prefer to spend his afternoons. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need it. He couldn't care less whether or not he got his memory back at all.

Dr. Max Hanson was an older man with round glasses and a bushy white mustache. What little hair he had left was also white and he taught psychology at Meyer College and had been working on amnesia cases for most of his career. He'd even won some kind of fancy award for it. Alfred and the doctors at the hospital that had cared for Jared when he awoke and realized he didn't even know his own name had suggested Dr. Hanson and Jared had been seeing him ever since. He wished he didn't have to. Dr. Hanson was an alright man, but it was clear that when you were talking to him, you were being shrinked. And Jared hated it.

"Nothing worth your time, I'm sure," said Jared, leaning his head on his hand.

"Not at all," said Hanson. "I don't find anything you have to say uninteresting. Remember, even the tiniest thing can be of help."

Jared didn't reply. He wished he was allowed to smoke in Hanson's office, but he wasn't. Perhaps it had been Hanson that had driven him to the habit in the first place.

"Jared," said Hanson, softly. "There is very little that I can do for you if you don't talk to me. We've been over this. I know you don't necessarily like these visits, but they are for your own good. We are trying to restore the memories that you lost. Doesn't that matter to you?"

"To be completely honest, it doesn't," Jared admitted, looking past Hanson and through the window at the gray sky and the snowy grounds.

"Why doesn't it matter to you?" Hanson asked in an infuriatingly calm voice.

"Because I've tried remembering and I've found nothing," said Jared, coolly. "I've tried to find anyone who might be looking for me and no one is. I don't know about you but it is clear to me that whatever past I may have, it apparently wasn't one that was celebrated if there isn't even anyone missing me." He pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and started fiddling with it. "So, trying to find out something like that is a complete waste of my time."

Hanson had been taking notes while Jared talked. This was another of his shrink habits that drove Jared up the wall. He complained that Jared didn't talk to him enough and when he finally did talk, he scribbled on his notes the whole time. How he longed to just light the cigarette in his hands and just be done with this stupid man.

"I see you're still smoking," said Hanson, looking at the cigarette with disapproval. "Would you please put that away? These are non-smoking rooms; I'd get in trouble if you did."

Jared would have dearly loved to tell the man to shove it and light the cigarette anyway, but he slipped it back into the pack regardless. Hanson smiled in a smug all-knowing way. "You don't like me telling you what to do, do you Jared?"

"No," Jared admitted.

"I see," said Hanson. "I know you don't like being here, Jared, but these sessions are for your own good. If you don't want to recover your memories yourself, then do it for the people out there who do know you and are eagerly waiting for you to return."

"If they're so eager, why haven't they tried to find me?" Jared snapped. "If someone is so concerned for me, then at least make an effort. I've just told you this, if anyone is looking for me, why don't they try to find me? I'm right here! I'm looking too and I can't find anything because there is nothing to find."

Again, Hanson had made notes the whole time that Jared had been talking. It was extremely irritating. "Alfred told me that there was a young woman that you found interesting in his classes the other day."

Jared grimaced. That traitor . . .

"Why don't we talk a little about this girl, huh? What do you think made Alfred say you found her interesting?"

Jared shrugged.

"I'll need you to be a little more open than that," said Hanson, inquiringly.

_Why? So you can take more notes?_ Jared thought, scornfully.

"Are you attracted to this girl?" Hanson asked. "If you are, I think that can be a very healthy thing for you, Jared. A relationship can do wonders for people."

"I don't plan on starting any kind of relationship with anyone," Jared snapped. _But she was very attractive . . ._

"Well, then perhaps you remembered this girl," said Hanson, looking interested. "Did she seem familiar to you? Do you think you know her? Did you talk to her? Did she seem to know you?"

"No, no, not really, and no," grumbled Jared. "Can we wrap this up, please?"

Dr. Hanson sighed. "You know, Jared, this problem won't get any better unless you are more open. The doctors at the hospital that found you called me the first because they thought I could help you. I _want_ to help you, Jared. All I need is a little more cooperation on your part. It shouldn't be that hard."

"Can I go now?" Jared asked, now feeling exhausted from the constant frustration he'd been enduring through the whole session.

"If there really is nothing you want to talk to me about then yes, you can go," said Hanson, looking crestfallen.

Jared pushed himself out of his seat and marched out of Hanson's office. Why did he even bother going? Eager to get outside and start that cigarette he'd wanted in Hanson's office, he headed for the doors leading out of the building. As he passed the window, something caught his attention. He looked out and received a slight surprise.

"It can't be . . ."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

When she wasn't attending classes, Sarah worked at the college library. She liked working there. It was calm and quiet and warm during the long, cold winter days. Nell, the head librarian, was a soft-spoken, sweet tempered woman and Sarah enjoyed working for her. Nell was nearing sixty years old, but you wouldn't tell from looking at her. She appeared much younger, her silver hair pulled up in ponytails, her angled face showed age but also energy. Her voice and her actions were those of a much younger woman and she was quite a good conversational companion.

Today, Sarah had finished her shift and was about to head out. She worked mornings and occasionally evenings at the library, leaving her afternoons open for classes.

"I heard most of the college classes were cancelled," Nell said as Sarah swung her coat over her shoulders. "What are you gonna do with your free time?"

"I'm not sure," said Sarah. "Catch up on schoolwork, maybe. Will you need me tonight?"

"No, I'm probably gonna close a bit early tonight," said Nell. "The roads are atrocious and nobody seems to willing to battle through the snow for a library book, so I'll just leave it. I'll see you tomorrow, Sarah."

"Bye," said Sarah, as she walked out the door.

The library was only a few blocks away from the dorms. Across the way was a large research facility where the psychology professors and students worked, and between them was the main building where the classrooms and things were. Sarah walked through the snow, heading back to the dorm. She often walked to work, seeing as it wasn't very far, but today she wished she'd driven her car. The snow was falling again and it was horribly cold. She marched onward nevertheless.

"Well, well! Sarah Williams, if I ever laid eyes on her."

Sarah grimaced and turned around. Sure enough, there stood Reece McAllister. He was a med student and a smart boy, but an extremely vain one. He was well aware of his own dark good looks that included slicked back dark hair, deep brown eyes and a strong, large chin. "A _man's_ chin," he would call it. There were plenty of girls who would love to go out with him, but Sarah wouldn't have anything to do with him. He was too full of himself for her to be interested. How could you love a boy who was too much in love with himself?

"Hey, Reece," said Sarah, in an attempt to be friendly, but her smile was as cold as the snow around her.

"Hey, baby," he said, swaggering up to her. Sarah hated that. "You look chilled to the bone. I know this awesome coffee place. We can warm up there, _if you know what I mean_," he added jovially.

"Once hell becomes as cold as this place is, I'll consider it," Sarah replied, all pretence dropped. "Go find someone who cares, Reece."

"But you will care," said Reece, eagerly. "Honestly, baby, I have got everything worked out. I'll be a doctor by day and a male model by night. The money will be falling right into my lap."

"I'll tell you one thing that will not be falling into your lap and that's me," said Sarah, hotly. "Back off right this second, Reece, you know I'm not interested."

"Sarah Williams, you are as cold as the falling snow," said Reece, pretending to be hurt. "What is your problem, anyway? Don't you want to get with this?" he suddenly struck a ridiculous pose with his hands on his hips. "Did you see that? That was the swimsuit pose. And this," he did the exact same thing "is the underwear. See the difference?"

"Reece, leave right now or I'll call security," snapped Sarah. "Seriously, back off and go away."

"Why should I?" said Reece. "You are a good looking lady and I am a very good looking man. And one plus one equals two _if you know what I mean._"

"And two minus one equals one," hissed Sarah. "And right now that is what I want to be. One! Leave me alone."

"Why don't you like me, Sarah," pouted Reece. "You and I are two fine lookin' people in a world of ugly people. It's like we were meant to be together."

"I'd rather be alone for all eternity than be with a pig like you who has a chin that can sink the Titanic," Sarah snapped. "I'm not going to tell you again. _Leave me alone!_"

"Hey! This is a _man's_ chin," countered Reece. "Come on, Sarah. One cup of coffee, that's all I ask."

"Back off."

"Come on, Sarah . . ."

"Reece, get away from me now!"

"It's just coffee."

"Reece, LEAVE!"

Reece scowled and grabbed Sarah's upper arm. "What is your problem anyway? Why so reluctant? You know I'm hot, Sarah. Why are you always turning me down?"

"Because you are a vain and spoiled pig," spat Sarah. "Reece, you let me go right now or I swear I'll . . ."

"You'll what?" challenged Reece, grinning in a dangerously playful way as he pulled her closer to him. "You'll _what?_ Come on, tell me what you'll . . ."

At that moment, a hand closed on Reece's shoulder and squeezed painfully. Reece let go of Sarah and Sarah looked up at who it was. She let out a tiny gasp of surprise.

_It's him!_

The man from Jessie's dance class was standing behind Reece, his mismatched eyes narrowed dangerously. "Good afternoon," he said, politely. "I apologize if I am interrupting anything, but you weren't planning on doing anything . . . inappropriate to this girl, were you, sir?"

Reece stared at the newcomer, looking positively shocked. "N-none of your business, man," he snapped, in an attempt to appear tough, but he failed miserably in that respect.

"I beg to differ," said the man. "If you were, oh I don't know, _forcing_ her to do something _against her will_ then that would make it _anybody's _business to put a stop to you, wouldn't it?"

Reece pulled his shoulder free from the man's grip and ran off. The man snorted. "Coward," he muttered. But then he turned to Sarah. Once again, she had the strangest feeling as they gazed at one another. Like she knew him, but she was sure she didn't know him at all.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything that really wasn't any of my business," he said.

"Oh, no," said Sarah, a bit flustered. "Actually, you really helped me out. Thanks. Don't mind him, though. He's just a big jerk."

"I see," he said. "Well, you're welcome then."

Sarah smiled, hesitated for a moment, and then extended her hand. "I'm Sarah. Sarah Williams."

The man stared at her hand cautiously, also hesitating, but then her reached forward and grasped her hand in his. "Jared," he said with a smile. Sarah noticed it was the same smile as before. It was a smile that wasn't a smile at all.

"Well," she said, ignoring this last thought. "It is nice to meet you, Jared."

"Likewise, Sarah," he said, kindly.

"So, what are you doing here?" Sarah asked, trying to ignore the pleasant shiver that had gone down her spine when he'd said her name. "Are you a professor here?"

"Me? Oh no," said Jared. "I was just . . . meeting with someone at the psychology facility. Are you a student?"

"Yup," she said, cheerfully. They began to walk. Sarah noticed that they were heading in the opposite direction of the dorm, but she couldn't really bring herself to care. "So, if not a professor, are you a dancer? It's just that's where I saw you the other day. You were at the dance academy."

"No," said Jared. "I'm just a friend of Al's. He brought me in with the hopes that I would be distracted by most of the girls there. In his original plan, he failed dismally, but," he gave a more realistic smile as he looked at Sarah. "That is where I met you, so I guess his scheme worked after all."

Despite the snow and cold, Sarah felt her face get warm as she blushed. "Well, glad I could help out."

He gave a slight laugh and looked around. They were nearing the general store and the coffee house that was usually occupied by students from the college. "I know that very rude fellow from before already offered you coffee and you declined, but I can't help but wonder if you'd say yes if I asked you this time."

"Actually, I don't really like coffee," said Sarah. "But I would absolutely love a cup of hot chocolate," she added hastily. Jared smiled again. It amazed Sarah how more and more real his smiles seemed to become. They went inside and placed their orders and took a seat and one of the little round tables that were littered all over the tiny shop to wait for their orders.

"So, what are you studying at the college?" Jared asked.

"Creative writing," said Sarah, taking off her wool gloves and rubbing her pink fingers together. She was quite glad to be out of the cold. "I'm living in the dorms and I work part time at the library. What about you?"

"I live in an apartment downtown," said Jared, dismissively.

Sarah wasn't entirely listening. She was still trying to rub life back into her numb fingers. Unexpectedly, her hands were suddenly encased to two larger ones in black, leather gloves. Gently, Jared used the warmth of his own hands and stroked her fingers, warming them instantly. Sarah stared up and him and he gave another, half-real smile.

"I always find warming your hands is easier with assistance," he said, smugly.

Sarah blinked slowly. What _was_ it about him that made her pulse quicken like this? "A bit bold, though, isn't it?" she asked, with a trace of mocking in her voice.

Jared smiled and dropped her hands, which immediately began to protest the separation. "I apologize."

"No, that's okay, really," said Sarah, when their cups of coffee and hot chocolate arrived. "You look a bit cold yourself," she said, noticing his gloved hands still shivering somewhat and his face was still a bit pink.

Jared's smile vanished. "I hate the cold," he said grimly.

"And yet, you were walking around in it," Sarah commented.

Jared lowered his gaze. "Yes, but I can't really tell what I hate more, the cold or being kept inside."

Sarah smiled and took a careful sip of her chocolate. "I guess I can understand that."

Jared grinned. "While we are here, would you like something to eat, perhaps?"

"No, thanks," she said, glancing at the clock. "I really have some work for my classes I was hoping to catch up on."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Jared. He had meant to sound good-natured, but Sarah could still she the disappointment in his eyes. She smiled broadly at him.

"But, you may walk me back to the dorm, if you like," she offered.

Jared blinked and gave his truest smile yet. "Alright," he said. And the two of them left the shop together.

**Ying-Fa: All done, tell me what you think. I love your opinions. They are always so nice. Tee hee.**


	6. Christmas Traditions

**Ying-Fa: Awwww man! I am sooooo excited. I've been thinking and thinking about this chapter for the longest time and I finally get to bring it all to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!**

Sarah let out a long sigh. It was past midnight and she'd just finished going over her third set of notes as she waited for Jessie to come home from another date with Gene. As much as she liked her classes, studying had become extremely difficult now that her finals where coming up. Once she'd finished with them, she would be going home to celebrate Christmas with her family. Jessie would be leaving too.

Sarah slammed her book shut, unable to concentrate any longer. Her mind kept going back to Jared. After he had walked her back to the dorm, bade her goodbye, and walked off. She'd stood there and watched him until he'd disappeared from view in the falling snow. With a sigh of wonder, she'd collapsed on her bed and sipped at her hot chocolate. She'd never remembered it tasting so good before.

_I wonder where he is now,_ Sarah thought. _He said he lived downtown. I wonder if I'll get to see him again before I head home for the holidays._

At that moment, Jessie came into the dorm, looking cold and bad tempered. "Gene is a total idiot," she said, angrily. "I can't believe I thought he was cute! I am so not calling him again."

"What did he do?" Sarah asked.

"He asked me to pay for our dinner date because he was saving his money to buy a guitar," Jessie said, flopping down on her bed. "So I said 'no way, that is the man's job' and he started begging and all this losery stuff. Urg! What an immature baby! I am so stupid for going out with him."

Sarah listened politely as Jessie ranted and raved about Gene, all the while her mind traveled back to Jared. She couldn't stop thinking about how lost and sad his eyes had been or how his smiles had become warmer and more believable the longer he was with her. Before long, Jessie lost steam, took her insomnia pills, and fell asleep within minutes.

Sarah crawled into bed herself, fiddling with her crystal necklace that she'd decided to wear that day. She snuggled deep into her blankets. It had been a nasty day of studying and sleep would be much appreciated. She smiled as she closed her eyes. Where was Jared now? She hadn't seen him in days. Did he remember her? Would they meet again soon? She hoped they did. She really, really hoped they did.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

_There were frigid, narrow passages all around. Twisting both this way and that, they went on and on forever. A stone pillar with stone hands stood in the midst of the walls. The hands were pointing in different directions, icicles dangling from the pointing fingers. Through the maze of walls and the thin layer of snow blanketing the ground there was another passage with two doors. Two figures stood before them. They were frozen solid, several hands clutching two large wooden shields, each standing on a pair of spindly legs. One of the shields had a red diamond shape and the other had a blue circle. Then there were the doors behind them. Both of them were covered in frost just like the frozen figures in front of them._

_"One of them leads to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth, and the other one leads to . . ."_

_"Bum, bum, bum, BUM!"_

_"Certain death."_

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jared's eyes opened slowly. There they were again. Those strange passages and frozen creatures. He'd been dreaming about them for as long as his memory would allow, but they've never been this vivid before. Jared sat up and looked around his bedroom. It was empty and small, just as it had been when he fell asleep.

He rolled onto his side and reached for the pack of cigarettes on his bedside table. He always had one if he woke up in the middle of the night. He was on the verge of lighting it when something else wondered into his mind. A vision. With long black hair and sparkling green eyes and a smile that would light up the world. Jared pulled the cigarette from his mouth and placed it and his lighter back on the bedside table.

Did Sarah know that he smoked? Had he told her? No, it hadn't come up in the light conversation he'd had with her as they'd enjoyed their hot drinks together. He wondered what she would think of him smoking like this. She seemed so clean and neat. She wouldn't be too horribly impressed by him if he smelled like an ash tray. He was quite glad that he hadn't had the cigarette he'd been longing for inside Hanson's office.

Jared smiled as he thought of Sarah. Where was she now? Probably still in her dorm room. Would she be asleep or would she be awake? He glanced at the clock on the wall. Almost three in the morning. Most likely she'd be asleep. He tried to picture her asleep. Her eyes closed so he couldn't see their brilliant green color, breathing deeply, completely serene. He rolled onto his other side and grinned into his pillow.

_Ah, Sarah. What have you done to me?_

Would he get to see her again? Perhaps he would go to Al's class again and try to catch a glimpse of her as she went to pick up her friend again. But what if she didn't come? What if her friend no longer needed a ride? Frowning at these unpleasant thoughts, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on Sarah as he drifted back to sleep.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Parked outside Jessie's dance class, Sarah hesitated. Jessie's lesson wasn't over for another fifteen minutes, but Sarah wanted to go in anyway. She was determined to see Jared at least once before she left town to go visit her family and if it meant dealing with the dancers, then so be it!

Would Jared be there? If he was, what on earth was she going to say to him? That she couldn't stop thinking about him since they'd met the other day? No way! That maybe they could get something to eat together, like he'd suggested the other day. That could work. But then again, if he wasn't there at all she'll look like a real idiot in front of Jessie and her snob dancer friends.

It was worth the risk. Sarah unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of the car into the wintry air. She looked cautiously through the windows of the dance academy and saw that they were practicing ballroom dancing. Al had taken it upon himself to throw up a few Christmas decorations including a few wreaths and a paper chain. Every now and then, they would stop and Al would come around and correct them if they were doing things wrong. Sarah couldn't see Jared among them. Not willing to give up, she opened the door and stepped inside.

The dancers twirled around in pairs, ignoring her. She looked around, looking for Jared. Somehow she knew he was there, she just needed to find him. She walked past dancing couples, hoping to find Jared or even Al to ask him if Jared was really there. As she wandered through the dancing couples, she got a very strange case of déjà vu, like she'd done something like this before.

Turning around, she saw him. Jared was standing there, not far from her. There was an almost relieved look on his face. Had he been looking for her just as she'd been looking for him? Almost at once, a haunting, music-box-like music filled the room. It was the music the students were dancing to. Jared looked over at her, smiled, and reached out his hand to her. Sarah recognized the gesture at once. He was asking her to dance.

Feeling a little dazed, Sarah reached up and put her hand on his shoulder. He gave her a reassuring look as he put his own hand on her waist and took the other in his. They began to rotate slowly, like the dancers around them.

_I know this_, Sarah thought as she looked up into Jared's mismatched eyes. _Jared, this dance . . . it's like a memory from a past life . . . or a dream._

_**Dancing bears, painted wings**_

_**Things I almost remember**_

Jared looked down at Sarah as they danced along with Al's students. He felt somehow at peace here. Like he had done this before. He knew this but then again he didn't know it. It was like this had happened before, but he _knew_ it hadn't. The dancers, Sarah, those things were right but it was the song that was off. There was a better one out there. A special one . . . from long ago . . .

_**And a song someone sings**_

_**Once upon a December**_

Sarah's mind was going steadily blank. All that existed was Jared. She felt a strange, new respect for him. He wasn't some silly boy to be trifled with, to be simply played with. He was a man whose presents demanded respect. She hardly noticed that the two of them were dancing with the other dancers in perfect harmony even though she didn't even know the steps. She tried to clear her mind as she tried to remember something like this before. Another time, long ago, when she'd danced with . . . who? She couldn't think. She couldn't remember anyone other that him.

_**Someone holds me safe and warm**_

_**Horses prance through a silver storm**_

_**Figures dancing gracefully**_

_**Across my memory**_

They danced faster as the music grew faster. He knew this. He remembered a time like this, but at the same time, it was all shadowy faces and nothingness. He couldn't remember, but he still could. Sarah. He remembered Sarah. Dressed in a beautiful white gown and he, himself, was wearing a sparkling blue suit. But, he wasn't remembering it. It could never have happened before. They'd never met before now. But there was something there, buried in his memory.

_**Far away, long ago**_

_**Glowing dimness and ember**_

_**Things my heart used to know**_

_**Things it yearns to remember**_

It was the same, but different. Even the mirrored walls were similar. The dancers, themselves, it was almost too much. They gazed at each other, each of them trying to determine what it was that made them feel this way. Like this had happened before, but they were both so sure that it hadn't. One thing was for sure. Sarah didn't feel the need to break away from Jared and stop the dance. Indeed, at the moment she'd give anything to have it keep going. There was something . . . different. Something they remembered.

_**And a song someone sings**_

The words just appeared there, in his mind. Quietly, distantly, they rang in his blackened memory. It was his own voice, and yet the voice of a stranger.

_As the world falls down._

_**Once upon a December**_

The song ended and the dancers broke apart. Likewise, Sarah and Jared took a step back from each other, but didn't take their eyes off each other's faces. Then, Al's voice cut through the quiet like a knife.

"Fantastic. Now, I want you to practice in your free time. Your form is getting better and better all the livelong day, so keep it up. Happy Holidays and I'll see you all on Thursday."

The dancers scattered and started to leave the dance floor to gather their bags and belongings. Only Sarah and Jared remained. Now that the music was gone and the dancing had stopped, they weren't entirely sure what was supposed to happen now. But just as Sarah opened her mouth to speak, she heard Jessie calling her name.

"Sar, what are you doing in here so early? I wasn't expecting to see you for another five minutes or so," Jessie said as she hurried over to Sarah.

Sarah tore her eyes away from Jared to look over at her roommate. "Oh, um, I came a bit, um, early," she said a bit lamely. "Um, should we get going?"

"Yeah, I'll just go grab my bag," said Jessie and she walked off.

Sarah looked back to Jared, feeling flustered. She opened her mouth to speak, and then realized that she had absolutely nothing to say whatsoever. Jared smiled at her. This one was _almost_ real, but still a bit off. "How about I walk you out?" he said, charmingly.

He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her over to the door. She let him lead her, feeling tense but pleased. What was that that she'd been feeling during their dance? What was it about Jared that made him so unbelievably special? Who was he?

They'd reached the doorway and were about to say goodbye when Jessie showed up with her bag. "Come on, Sar. I'm ready now, so let's . . ." but she stopped suddenly. She stared hard at the two of them and then her face creaked in a smile that was almost demonic. "Oh, no," she said slowly. "Oh no, no, no. That is just _too cute!_"

"What is?" Sarah asked, confused.

Jessie smiled and pointed upward. Sarah and Jared both glanced up and Sarah felt her insides suddenly writhe as if they'd suddenly been turned into snakes. There, taped to the doorframe and nestled matter-of-factly right above Sarah and Jared's heads was a clump of deep green leaves and white berries.

Mistletoe.

_Oh crap,_ was the only thought was going through Sarah's head. _Oh crap. Oh jeez. _She chanced a glance at Jared. He was still staring at the little plant above their heads. Sarah could tell he was thinking the very same things she was.

Jessie was staring almost hungrily at the two of them. "Well," she said, evilly. "Do it."

"Jess," hissed Sarah. "Don't you . . ."

"Nah ah," said Jessie, the evil amusement more pronounced than ever. "It's tradition Sarah. Do it."

"Jessie, please . . ."

"We are not leaving this place until I see it," she said, her eyes narrowed so that her pupils were reduced to slits.

"Jessie will you _please_ . . .!" Sarah began, but she was stopped by hand gently taking hold of her chin and turning her head to the side.

Sarah suddenly found herself looking at Jared's way too close face. She knew what he was about to do. She was about to protest when she saw it at long last. He was smiling again. This time there was no falseness, no hidden sadness. This was his real smile. His first completely authentic smile. But she only saw it for a moment before her eyelids fell closed of their own accord and she felt his lips press firmly but gently against her own.

Never had Sarah experienced any such kiss from anyone before. True, she had had boyfriends in the past, and yes they had kissed her, but none of them could compare to Jared. It was as though she was trying to find the right piece to a jigsaw puzzle. Every other boy she'd dated just hadn't felt right with her. But here, now, with Jared she felt like she'd finally found that one stubborn piece she'd been trying to find for so long.

Jared kept it light and sweet but Sarah could almost feel his extreme reluctance to pull away when it came time to end it. When they finally did break apart, Sarah had to resist with all her might not to lean back in and kiss him again. She hesitated a moment before opening her eyes, but was glad she did. It was still there. His true smile was still there, now more pronounced than ever. They stared at each other for a moment, and then he inclined his head to her, turned and walked out of the academy.

Sarah was still so stunned that she hardly felt it when Jessie grabbed her arm and yanked her out the door and shoved her into the passenger seat of her own car. Jessie then climbed into the driver seat and slammed her door shut before gasping out loud.

"_How was __**that!?**_" Jessie demanded in a breathy, fan-girlish voice.

Sarah couldn't speak. Instead her face creaked into the biggest smile she'd ever worn and covered her blushing face with her hands. Jessie squealed.

"You have got to talk to me, Sarah," Jessie demanded. "Was that even half as good as it looked? Because if it was that had to be the most phenomenal kiss you could ever wish for!"

"You have no idea," Sarah heard herself saying, numbly. "That was . . . completely and utterly indescribable. Jared is just so . . . he is so . . ."

What word could she use? Handsome? Wonderful? Mysterious? Gentlemanly? Handsome? Sarah heard herself give an excited giggle that was completely unlike her. But it was appropriate. She was positive that she had just found the one person out there who she was always meant to kiss. The one meant for her. His kiss, his smile, their dance, all of this and more seemed to confirm the fact that she and Jared worked together in ways that nobody else could understand.

"Well," said Jessie, sounding satisfied. "That settles it then."

Sarah smiled. Jessie was going to lecture her about the joys of dating that she'd been missing out on and asking her if it was nice to actually be with a guy every now and again. She knew it was coming and Sarah braced herself, ready for whatever Jessie or the rest of the world had to throw at her.

But Jessie tossed her hair and said with a triumphant grin, "I am _so_ asking him out!"

**Lyrics from "Once Upon A December" by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty from Anastasia**

**Ying-Fa: So, there it is. I'm a little surprised at myself. To think I'd actually write and 'under the mistletoe' kissing scene. Was it any good? Tell me what you think. Also, if you could give me a little bit on your minds about my side characters, that would be great. It'll help me on deciding what to do with whom and when and why and such. Please, review your little hearts out.**


	7. Discovering

**Ying-Fa: Tee hee! Your reactions are just what I thought they'd be. Sorry, people, it's no joke. Jessie really is that conceded. Here's the next chapter.**

"So, do you think I should go with the dark red or the pink?"

Sarah couldn't bring herself to answer. Two days passed since Sarah and Jared had met at the dance academy, had shared a kiss under the mistletoe, and Jessie declared that she was going to ask Jared out. Sarah had hoped and hoped that Jessie would forget all about Jared before long like she sometimes did about boys, but to her dismay Jared stuck in Jessie's brain and she was determined to go out with him.

"Sar," complained Jessie. "Are you listening to me? Which one?" she said again, brandishing the two tubes of lipstick in Sarah's face.

"Huh?" said Sarah, not looking at her roommate. "Oh, um, pink."

"I think I'll go with the red," said Jessie, smirking. "It will go _so_ well with my black top."

Sarah shuddered. Jessie only wore her black top when she was serious about a guy. She would be pulling no punches with Jared. Sarah's insides squirmed with discomfort. "Ha-have you met up with him already?" she asked, her voice sticking in her throat.

"Freddie told me that he wonders around a lot," said Jessie from the bathroom where she was curling her hair. "He says he usually goes to the coffee shop in the afternoon, so I should try and meet him there."

"Oh, right," said Sarah, feeling downcast.

How could Jessie be doing this to her? Did she have any idea what asking Jared out would mean to Sarah? _She'd_ been the one he had taken for hot chocolate. He'd danced with _her_. Kissed _her!_ And now Jessie suddenly decided that she wanted him? That just wasn't right on all counts.

Jessie came out of the bathroom, looking great. Her blond hair was curled and shiny, her make-up done perfectly, and her black top and curve-hugging slacks added beautifully to her image. Sarah wanted to groan in frustration, but held it in somehow. All men seemed to love Jessie. She was the image of the perfect girl and she knew it. She was always able to get what she wanted by simply flaunting her looks. Sarah caught a whiff of Jessie's perfume and knew right then and there, to her great dismay, that Jared was likely to fall for her the instant he caught sight of her.

"I'd better be heading out," said Jessie, with a confident smile. "I'll be back later."

"Uh huh," said Sarah, now looking thoroughly miserable. Jessie took no notice.

"I don't know how much later, so don't bother to wait up or anything," she added with a mischievous wink. "Bye."

Sarah watched Jessie head out and suddenly felt incredibly sick. Jessie usually said that when she wasn't planning on coming back home _at all_ that evening. Sarah even noticed she'd slipped her insomnia pills into her purse as she left. She wasn't being bashful about Jared at all. It wasn't really like Jessie to go for the throat like this, but it wasn't uncommon with her either.

The door snapped shut behind her and Sarah let out a wail of fury and collapsed on her bed in a fit.

"It's not fair!" she shrieked, reverting back to her old, teenage catch phrase. "Dang it, Jessie, I saw him first!"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was hopeless. It was absolutely hopeless. He hated to admit it even to himself but there was nothing else he could do about it. Jared just couldn't stop thinking about his kiss with Sarah. He had done everything he could think of to try and take it off his mind, but he just couldn't. Something about the girl had captivated him mind, body, and soul.

Jared was sitting in the coffee shop where he had brought Sarah on the day they officially met. He hadn't bought anything, but simply needed to sit somewhere and think. But being in his apartment had started to become some kind of agony, so he went out for one of his usual walks. But being outside in the freezing cold had only caused him even more agony, so he sought shelter in the shop.

_It isn't right, though_, he thought furiously. _This isn't what I should be thinking about when I'm thinking about her._

It was true. He wasn't thinking about Sarah the way he should. The way she was nagging at his mind wasn't the way the thought of a young woman was supposed to nag at the mind of a man. Her face seemed to torment him in a way he couldn't describe. He wanted to be with her every second of every day, but then again he wanted to stay as far away from her as he possibly could.

When he kissed her, it had done something to him. He'd felt the strangest things. It wasn't what he should have felt. He'd felt a kind of wild excitement. Not the kind of excitement he should have felt. It was the excitement of a man, dying of thirst in the desert heat, coming upon a beautiful spring of pure water. In fact, it wasn't even excitement. It was _triumph._

Jared sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn't want to think about Sarah like that, but it was thoughts like that that crept into his mind whenever he thought of her. He didn't like them. He didn't know why but he had the strangest feeling that they would come back to get him before long. That these feelings would hurt, not only himself, but Sarah as well. He didn't want to stop seeing Sarah, but something told him that it might be best for them both if he did.

The bell over the coffee shop door jingled as the door opened and a young woman stepped inside. Jared raised his head to see the newcomer was looking right at him. He recognized her. It was Sarah's roommate, Al's student, the dancer. Her name escaped him as she strode over to him. He didn't fail to notice that she'd dolled herself up somewhat. She was all make-up, black clothes, and bouncy blonde curls. She walked right over to him and smiled in a sweetly sensual manner.

"Hi, there," she said. "You might remember me. I'm Jessie McBride from Freddie's dance class. You're Jared, right?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Unable to bear sitting around in the dorm, Sarah threw on her coat and took a walk along the downtown area. She felt particularly miserable. Had Jessie met up with Jared yet? What were they going to do together? What if she ran into them while she was walking? What if she caught Jared kissing Jessie just as he had been kissing her only a few days ago?

In her frustration, Sarah reached down and scooped a handful of snow from off the ground, rolled it into a ball and threw it furiously into the street. What she hadn't expected was for her snowball to hit someone in the back of the head as they walked by.

"OW!" the man cried as the ball exploded into his black hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sarah cried running over to the man. "I didn't mean to . . . Alfred?"

Alfred turned to face her, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, hello," he said with a half-hearted smile. "You're Jessie's roommate. I remember you. It's nice to see you and all but, jeez, there has to be a less painful way to get my attention."

"I'm sorry," said Sarah. "I wasn't really trying to hit anybody. I was just . . . aggravated."

"Don't we all get that way?" said Al, smiling. "It's fine, really. Um, it's . . . Sharon? Susan?"

"Sarah," Sarah corrected him.

"Ah, Sarah," said Al, nodding. "Sorry about that. And, please, nobody calls me Alfred. Just Al will suffice, or Freddie, as most of my students and lady friends like to refer to me."

"Okay," said Sarah, not entirely sure how to respond.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," said Al. "Wanna take a quick walk together?"

"Um, sure," said Sarah, uncertainly. And the two began to walk around the shops.

"So," said Alfred. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem to have become particularly close to my good friend Jared."

Sarah's insides suddenly felt very heavy. "I . . . I guess," she said, tonelessly.

"Well, I don't guess," said Al, with a smile. "I saw that dance and I caught a glimpse of that kiss under the mistletoe."

"You DID!?" said Sarah, shocked.

"Sure I did," said Al. "I always make sure to hang mistletoe over that doorway to see who ends up getting smooched. Ah, Christmas is truly a time for unabashed romance, don't you find?"

_Jessie sure seems to think it is_, Sarah thought bitterly.

"Well, that aside, I have to ask you just what it is that you're intentions with Jared are," said Al, now looking a bit serious.

Sarah stared at him. "Nothing," she said. "We've just been meeting up and . . . well . . . I _wanted_ something to start but . . ."

"Listen, Sarah," said Al. "There is something about Jared I really ought to tell you. He wouldn't have told you this himself and odds are he won't so I'll do it in his place."

Sarah felt uneasy. Here it was at last. She knew there had to be something wrong with Jared because he had just seemed to be so perfect. Now she was about to learn something horrible about him. She braced herself for whatever it was that Al was about to say. Perhaps it would be so bad that she would no longer mind that he was with Jessie.

"Well, to but it in a nutshell," said Al, looking a bit uncomfortably. "Jared has amnesia."

Whatever Sarah had been prepared for, it wasn't that. "Amnesia?"

"Yup," said Al, looking relieved that he'd managed to just spit it out. "He doesn't know who he is. We aren't even sure that Jared is his real name. I don't know if you'd want me to go into the story . . ."

"No, what is it?" Sarah asked, hurriedly. "I want to hear."

Al smiled grimly. "Well, it was almost three years ago. On New Years Eve. I was taking a walk with my then-girlfriend-now-mortal-enemy when we came across him."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

_Al and Monica marched carefree through the thick snow of a field where they had decided to take a winter-time walk, chatting about this and that. It was getting dark and the snow was falling heavily around them. Monica had just been voicing that it was getting really cold and they should head back when something caught Al's eye._

_"What is it, Freddie?" Monica had asked when he had suddenly stopped walking. He shook his head and turned to his right, where something was laying in the snow._

_Al had expected it to be a deer or a large dog at the least. Instead, he found himself staring down at a man, lying curled up in the snow. He was half buried in frost. Al bent down and whipped snow off the man's frigid form. He couldn't even tell if he was breathing. He heard Monica gasp behind him._

_"Freddie! Is that . . . is that . . .?"_

_"Mon, head back," said Freddie, turning back to her. "Call an ambulance."_

_"Is he . . . is he . . .?" she couldn't seem to bring herself to say it._

_"Mon, call an ambulance," Al said again, and she rushed off._

_Al looked down at the frozen man. His eyes were closed and his short blonde hair was thick with ice. His skin was pale as the snow around him. Al bent down and checked his pulse. It was there, but very slow. Al took off his coat and wrapped it around the man. The coat was warm from his own body heat and it was the best he could do for the man at the time. He noticed the man was wearing unusual clothes. A white poet's shirt, black leggings and pointed boots._

_Within fifteen minutes, the ambulance arrived and carried the man away on a stretcher. Al and Monica stayed at the hospital to see if he would be alright. The doctor came after a few hours of waiting and spoke to them._

_"He's going to be alright. We got him warmed up and treated his frostbitten hands and feet. He's stable but still unconscious. It is amazing he wasn't dead when you found him. Who knows how long he was out there, lying in the snow. I'll tell you this. He is one lucky fellow, whoever he is."_

_Al came back every now and again to check on the man. He stayed unconscious for two weeks before he finally opened his eyes. But when he did, he didn't have any recollection as to who he was._

_"He seems to have suffered some severe trauma that's caused him to lose his memory," said a nurse who'd been looking after him. "He doesn't even know his own name."_

_Unbothered, Alfred went in to see him again. This time, he was sitting up in his hospital bed, staring out the window._

_"Hi there," said Al, cheerfully._

_The man looked over at him, but didn't say anything._

_"We haven't officially met, have we?" said Al, still smiling. "My name is Alfred. I'm a dance instructor. I live in the city. I was the one who found you out in the snow."_

_Still, the man didn't speak._

_"They say you don't remember anything," Al went on, conversationally. "I'm sorry about that. How are you feeling besides that fact?"_

_The man gave a half-hearted shrug of his shoulder, but continued not to speak._

_"Sorry about that," said Al. Then he had an idea. "Listen, if you get out of here and need a place to stay, I own a couple of apartments. One of them is where I live and the other I keep because it is close to the academy I teach at. I don't use it very often so, if you're interested, you're free to use it if you wish."_

_The man still didn't speak, but Al definitely saw a flash of interest in the man's mismatched eyes._

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Al smiled reminiscently. "After a while, he left the hospital and I let him live in my spare apartment. I didn't mind. I never used it except when I had to work way overtime and didn't feel like going all the way back to where I live or if my at-the-time girlfriend decided to kick me out of my own apartment."

Sarah listened to Al's story feeling a bit numb with disbelief. Al went on. "After awhile, Monica got sick and tired about me worrying over Jared and not focusing on her enough, so she left me. Jared's gotten better after three years, but still doesn't remember anything that happened before we found him."

"I . . . I don't believe it," said Sarah, stunned. "I . . . never would have guessed that that would have happened to him."

"Like I said, he's not very open about it, but he deals with it okay," said Al. "I keep telling him to move on, find himself a job, start life over again. He's been a bit reluctant, as you can imagine." Al suddenly turned and gave Sarah a kind smile. "But then he told me that he was interested in a girl, the roommate of one of my students, and I got nervous. I didn't know if you were the kind of person who might do something cruel to him, take advantage of him, but I can see I was wrong. You seem like a very nice girl, Sarah, and I'm glad that he'd chosen to take interest in you. My only wish, as Jared's one-and-only friend in this world, is that you regard him kindly."

Sarah stared up at Al with a whole new perspective of him. She'd never really had much of an opinion of Al, but now she knew he was a lot nicer than he came off. He seemed genuinely concerned for his friend's welfare.

"That's really nice," said Sarah, lowering her gaze. "I guess I understand why he seemed so distant and sad. It's because he doesn't know himself, and that's sad. But, I guess I really shouldn't be the one you're telling all of this to."

"Really?" said Al, looking surprised. "Why not?"

"Well, Jessie's gone after him, hasn't she?" said Sarah, feeling very miserable all of a sudden. "I don't know about you, but I know that she can be quite forceful with her boyfriends. She won't pull any punches with Jared, that's for sure."

There was a moment's silence.

"I thought," said Al, slowly. "That Jessie . . . was asking me . . . all that stuff about Jared . . . on your behalf."

"Nope," said Sarah, sadly. "She was asking for herself so that she could go out with him."

Another silence.

"OH CRAP!" said Al, so loudly that Sarah jumped and passersby stared. "That's not good! That's not good at all! That is the polar opposite of everything that can ever be considered as good! If the sun is good, this is the moon! If a red is good, this is blue! I cannot even delve into the depths of how devoid this situation is of all goodness!"

"Wh-what's wrong?" said Sarah, taken completely aback. "You don't have to freak out so much. Jessie may go through boyfriends like outfits but I don't think she'd do anything to deliberately hurt Jared."

"It isn't Jared I'm worried about!" said Al. "Oh, man! This is awful. I've gotta go find him. I'll see you later, Sarah!" And without any further explanation, he ran off.

Utterly perplexed, Sarah stared to make her way back to the dorm, her mind still full of thoughts of Jared. She tried to imagine what it would be like if she couldn't remember who you were or where you came from. She wondered how it would feel if she suddenly opened her eyes and didn't know anything about yourself or how you came to be wherever it was you where. If her parents, stepmother and Toby suddenly came to see her and she didn't recognize them in any way.

_Jared_, she thought. _He's lucky he has someone like Al to keep an eye out for him. He did seem very distant. And that explains why his smiles were never real. He had no reason to smile for real. Except for when we . . ._

Sarah shook her head furiously. There was no point in thinking about that now. Odds where Jared was probably buying Jessie a drink and having a perfectly enjoyable time with her. Sarah arrived at back at her dorm and went inside to collapse on her bed.

But that was difficult, seeing as someone was already on it.

"Jessie?" Sarah asked, carefully.

Jessie lifted her head off of Sarah's pillow and looked around at her. There were streaks of mascara running down her cheeks and her face was red with fury.

"_He . . . turned . . . me . . . DOWN!_" she wailed. "_Me! ME! He turned ME down!_" She let out a shriek of anger and buried her face back into Sarah's pillow.

"Oh no!" Sarah cried while her insides swung upward with cries of pure joy. "That's horrible. I'm so sorry, Jess. What happened?"

"I don't KNOW!" snapped Jessie. "I told him my name and told him I thought he looked really great and I asked him out. And he said 'no' and I thought he meant that he didn't want to go anywhere today. So, I asked him if we could hang out some other time and he said no to that too. By then I thought something was wrong, so I asked him and he just gives me this look and says, 'I have no intention of being with you.' So, I asked him what was wrong with going out and he said he wasn't interested in me. I told him if we went out, he could get interested then he stands up and glares at me and says that I'm not the one he's interested in and that he wanted me to leave him alone. He was SO MEAN!" she wailed as she grabbed at a tissue and dabbed at her streaming eyes. "And I went all out to get his attention too! That jerk didn't give me a chance."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Sarah. "Um, just let me go into the bathroom for a second, Jess."

Sarah left her sobbing friend as she closed the door to the bathroom. Once the door was closed, she stared jumping up and down, her hands flapping frantically, and mouthing the word, "YES! YES! YES!" over and over again.

**Ying-Fa: Feel better? Next chapter is a little more 'get-to-know-you' fluff. I'm not very good at fluff, so bear with me. FYI: When Al found Jared in the snow, he had none of his Underground glamour. His hair was short and he didn't have any G.K. eye make-up. His clothes were **_**like**_** the G.K.'s but more lackluster. Tell me what you think!**


	8. A Present

**Ying-Fa: Hello, peoples! Here's the next chapter. Oh, in case you're wondering how Jared has been affording food and stuff, he gets welfare checks. The hospital that found him signed him up for it to pay for things he needs until he's fit to find a job and start supporting himself. Please, read and enjoy.**

"Jared, I know for a fact that you are a brutally honest man and you are not shy in voicing your opinions even if they happen to be callously cruel but _please just be nicer to my dance students, 'kay?_"

Jared rolled his eyes. "She was the one who wouldn't back off. I told her I wasn't interested and it didn't seem to stick."

It was the day after Jared had encountered Jessie at the coffee shop and he was at Al's apartment on the outskirts of the big city. It was a nice place with updated furniture and lavish décor.

"I happen to know a bit about Jessie," said Al, looking imploringly at Jared. "She comes from a wealthy background. She's used to getting what she wants. Please tell me you weren't as brutal as I think you were. If that's the case she'll be all distraught and her will to do things will collapse and she won't practice and her skills will weaken and her family will stop PAYING ME!"

"Brats like her need to hear the word 'no' more often," said Jared, coldly.

"You know, that behavior isn't exactly helping my situation here, Jared," said Al, miserably. "May I remind you that you're a bit spoiled yourself! Oh, well. On a happier note, guess who I ran into yesterday?"

Jared stared at Al, warily. "Not another celebrity woman asking you for private lessons, I hope. You realize nobody believes those stories, right?"

"Nope, I ran into Sarah," said Al, brightly.

Jared stared at him. "Sarah?"

"Yup, _the_ Sarah," said Al. "Or should I say," he grinned nastily. "_Your_ Sarah."

Jared glared at him. "She's not _my_ anything," he snapped. "Shut up. I don't want to talk about her right now."

"Oh, come on," said Al. "It is perfectly healthy, the way you think about her. You've been mostly alone with only little old me to keep you company and it is completely normal to want to . . ."

"That's not it," hissed Jared. "That isn't the case with Sarah."

"Oh," said Al. "Then just what _is_ the case, Jared."

Jared hesitated. Then he bowed his head and sighed. "I think I'm remembering her, Al."

Al stared at him. "Remembering? You mean, like, _remembering_ remembering?"

"Yes," said Jared. "From . . . from before you found me."

Al blinked. "But how?" he said. "I had a whole conversation with her about you. She doesn't seem to think that she's met you before."

"I _know_," said Jared, frustrated. "I don't think so either, but there is something in the back of my head, something _knows_ her."

"Be more specific," said Al, leaning in with interest.

But Jared couldn't be more specific. Not with Al, or with anyone. He'd been dwelling on this for some time now. Something in him knew Sarah, but it didn't just know her. She was a very large part of his life, he knew it. Something knew that he would do anything to make her happy. Something in him made is world darker and colder than it already was when she wasn't there.

Something in him knew that he loved her more than he could ever love himself.

"Al," said Jared, slowly. "I really can't describe it. It's like I know her without knowing her. I . . . It's like there's a wall blocking my thoughts. I can hear her voice on the other side, calling me, but I can't _see_ her. I can't _reach_ her."

Al stared at Jared, looking very surprised. "Wow. You were almost poetic there. I guess it's just part of the pain of forgetting who you are. Maybe you haven't been trying hard enough."

Jared looked up at Al, who was looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. "You say there's a wall," said Al. "You're on one side and Sarah and your memories are on the other. Let's use that metaphor for a second. Now, let's say the wall is made out of smooth stone, so you can't climb it and it is too high for you to get over without a ladder or rope and there aren't any of those around. And let's also say this wall was stretching on and on as far as the eye could see, so walking around it isn't an option either. So, how do you get to the other side?"

Jared shrugged. "I don't know. Break it down?"

"Yeah, that's it," said Al, thoughtfully. "If you were to take a sledgehammer to the thing, it could be done. It would take a lot of work, but it could be done. But, at the same time, you don't want the wall gone."

Jared stared at Al, who smiled knowingly. "Sarah may be on the other side, but so is your past. You've already expressed how you feel about your past, but you can't have Sarah without your memories too. The wall may be separating you and Sarah, but it is also _protecting_ you from your past. So, what do you do?"

When Jared didn't answer, Al smiled knowingly. "It's just that old saying. In order to gain something, you have to give something up in order to obtain it."

"True," said Jared. "But she's also on my side of the wall as well. I still see her, don't I? I've talked with her, I've . . ."

"Kissed her," teased Al.

Jared glared at him. "Sarah's like a special case. She's on both sides of the wall. Right there in front of me, yet unreachable."

"Hm," said Al. "Seems to me that you'll just have to break down the wall. If you did that, then maybe she'll be more reachable."

Jared thought about this. Was it worth facing whatever evils that may exist in his past if it meant having Sarah with him? The answer to that question was easy.

"Al, can I borrow some money?"

Al blinked. "Well, there's an unsubtle changing of subjects if I ever saw one."

"Just say 'yes' or 'no'."

"Sure," said Al. "But once you get a job, you owe me."

"Fine," said Jared, dully. "I'm just going to buy something."

"What?"

"It's my business," said Jared, flatly.

"Understood, understood," said Al, getting out his wallet and skimming through the bills inside. He handed Jared a twenty. "Is this enough?"

"Should be," said Jared, tucking the bill into his pocket. "I'll be heading off, then."

"Really?" said Al, looking surprised. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later, Jared."

Jared's hand was on the doorknob when he suddenly turned around. "Oh, and there's one more thing."

"What?" asked Al, curiously.

"You aren't reporting any of this past conversation to that idiot shrink."

With that, Jared walked out and slammed the door behind him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

_A large forest ran spread out beautifully in the winter frost. Snow was piled on the trees, making the branches sink under the weight. Though the branches had saved the ground from being covered with snow, the dead twigs and leaves that littered the forest floor were coated thickly with ice and frost._

_Burrowed deep into the frozen ground, there were five creatures. They were tall, gangly things with flaming red hair covering their bodies._

_"Burr! Sure is getting cold out!" said one of them._

_"So cold we can't start no fire," commented another._

_"We ain't got no fire," said a third. "We can't play no games."_

_"No games, no fun," said the forth._

_"Man! What a bummer!" said the fifth._

_"Still," said the first. "At least we ain't frozen like them others."_

_"Yeah," said the third. "They's frozen solid."_

_"Rock solid," said the second._

_"Ain't no freezin' the Fierys," said the forth._

_"We got fire runnin' in our genes, man," said the first._

_"Won't do no good if it keeps getting cold like this," said the fifth._

_"No, no good," said the third, nodding._

_"Shame," said the first. "This'd never happen with the old guy."_

_"Yeah," said the fifth. "Too bad. The old guy was better."_

_"Old guy's tons better than the new guy!"_

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah walked out into the snow, feeling extremely relieved. She'd just finished her final exam and she'd come out of it feeling confident and happy. Tomorrow, she'd be heading home to celebrate the holidays with her family. Jessie had already left, so she'd had the dorm to herself. When she'd felt things had become too quiet, she'd bundled herself up and decided to take another walk.

Sarah had to stifle a yawn. She was getting really tired lately. She'd kept having the strange dreams about that strange, magical world that was covered in snow and ice. She kept thinking that she'd had dreams like these before, only last time everything was warm and alive.

Just as these thoughts ran through her mind, she heard a voice from behind her.

"I hope I didn't hurt your friend's feelings too badly yesterday."

Sarah turned and there, sure enough, was Jared. He was smiling believably at her and her heart leapt at the sight of him. She'd been afraid she wouldn't be able to see him again until after she came back from the holidays.

"Jared," she said. "Hi. Oh, don't worry about Jessie. She's gone home for Christmas. A few days of turkey and junk food and she'll be right as rain."

Jared laughed. It was the first time Sarah had ever heard him do so. His laugh was a subtle, dark sound that was full of mischief. He walked over to Sarah so that they were now right next to each other. Sarah saw dark circles under his eyes. Had he been sleeping poorly too?

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Nowhere in particular," said Sarah, honestly. "I was just going out for a walk." She smiled suddenly. "But, you may walk with me, if you like."

Jared smiled truthfully this time. "I'd be happy to."

They set out together. The sun was out, making the surrounding snow shimmer brilliantly as they walked together.

"Al told me the two of you met up yesterday," said Jared, lightly.

"Oh yeah," said Sarah, remembering the conversation she'd had with Al. "I did. He's a pretty nice guy."

"Really," said Jared, ignoring the pang of annoyance he'd felt at hearing her comment another man. "As a matter of interest, what did the two of you discuss?"

Sarah lowered her gaze to her feet. "He told me . . . about you."

Jared stopped in his tracks and looked at her. Sarah stopped too, but didn't quite meet his gaze. "About how he found you and how you . . . lost your memories."

Jared closed his eyes and turned his head away from Sarah. She looked up and saw that he seemed to be doing everything in his power to suppress his rage. She could see a vein throbbing in his temple and a corner of his mouth was twitching.

"Did he now?" he said, in a mock calm voice. _That lousy, useless, traitorous son of a . . ._

"But I don't mind!" Sarah said quickly. "Really, it doesn't bother me at all. I thought it was great that he helped you out like that when you didn't have anyone. I don't mind that you have amnesia, really I don't."

"You may not now," said Jared, bitterly. "But you will later."

Sarah stared.

"It will eventually occur to you that I don't have a clue as to who I really am," he said, angrily. "I could be anyone, couldn't I? Once that occurs to you, then you'll feel the discomfort that comes with knowing someone like me."

"But, I'm not uncomfortable," said Sarah, earnestly. "Really, I'm not. I've never felt uncomfortable with you."

Jared chanced a sideways glace at her before muttering, "Nor have I with you. Not that that won't change."

"Well, we can't say that, can we?" said Sarah.

Jared looked at her curiously.

Sarah shrugged. "How do we know what will happen and what won't? I mean, sure some things are inevitable, but how can we tell what is and what isn't?"

Jared blinked, and then smiled again. "You are a very rare kind of woman, aren't you, Sarah?"

Sarah smiled. "I try to be."

They continued their walk. Their feet carried them all over the town, this way and that, not heading anywhere in particular. They spoke about all sorts of things. Mostly it was Jared asking questions and Sarah answering them. And most of his questions were about Sarah herself.

At first it was simple things like her favorite things. He asked about her favorite color, season, subject, books, and the like and she answered as best she could. He asked about her family and she told him all about her parent's divorce when she was seven, her father's remarriage and her younger brother. She humored him by not asking very many questions in return, because he couldn't answer them.

When he asked her about any boyfriends she might have, she thought a moment before answering. "I've had . . . what . . . three since I left high school. Not one of them made it to a third date. There was always something wrong with them. I couldn't bring myself to really like them, no matter how nice they were to me. What about you?"

Sarah immediately regretted saying this. They'd been having such a good conversation that for a moment she'd forgotten about his memory. Jared didn't look bothered, however. He simply shrugged.

"None that I can remember," he said. "I seriously doubt that there is anybody looking for me, trust me I've looked. After I was discovered, I still wasn't very interested in getting into a relationship. Women like your friend wouldn't take well to the fact that I don't even know my own name."

"Jared isn't your name?" Sarah asked.

"It's . . . like my name," said Jared, shrugging. "Nothing else sounded right. This one sounds . . . similar, but still not right."

Sarah smiled. "Well, it is a nice name," she said. "I'm glad you chose it."

Jared grinned. "I'm glad you approve."

They entered a small park, not unlike the one back in Sarah's hometown where she used to play with Merlin and Toby. They were walking over a bridge that stretched across a small stream of frozen water when Jared stopped and looked right into Sarah's eyes. She stared back, feeling nerves swell up like a balloon in her stomach.

"Why," he said softly. "Why does just looking at you make me feel whole?"

Sarah blushed at this. "I don't know," she said, simply. "We've never met before, have we?"

Jared continued to stare intently at her. It was like he was trying to see past her. "Have we?"

Sarah gazed right back at him. Did she know him? There was definitely something about him that struck out at her. She spun as thoroughly as she could through her memories.

"I don't think so," she said, softly. "Maybe it's destiny."

Jared sighed. He seemed a little disappointed. "Destiny, you say? In that case, perhaps we should stop seeing each other." He turned away to stared almost angrily at the frozen stream. "I'm not fond of destiny and I don't like to think I'm playing by its rules."

Sarah stepped beside him and looked out at the stream as well. "Now that you mention it, I don't like it much either," she said. "I think people's fates lie in the choices they make. At least, that's what I'd like to believe."

"Really?" said Jared, turning to look back at her. "Hm. That would seem the appropriate way for things to be done. I prefer your way."

Sarah turned back to him just in time for him to cover her lips with his. Her eyes widened in surprise at the contact, but then slid lazily closed, eager to enjoy the moment. When she felt him start to pull away, she leaned in closer, determined to make it last as long as possible. Finally, when air was becoming an issue, she allowed him to pull away.

They stood there for a moment, hearts thudding rapidly against their ribcages when suddenly the large clock that stood in the center of the park began to chime. It was four o'clock and it was already starting to get dark.

Jared stared moodily at the clock, as if cursing it for daring to interrupt, then gave Sarah a quick grin. "I should probably get back, Sarah."

"Yeah, me too," said Sarah. She didn't want to leave his side, but it was getting really cold and she still needed to pack for the trip home tomorrow.

"My apartment is this way," he said, pointing toward the other end of the park.

"I'm that way," said Sarah, pointing reluctantly in the opposite direction.

They'd started to separate when Sarah suddenly remembered. "Oh, I'm heading back to my dad's house for the holidays tomorrow. I'll probably be staying there until New Years."

Jared blinked, but smiled. This time his smile was completely untruthful. "I see. Well, enjoy you holidays, Sarah."

"What'll you be doing?" said Sarah, quickly. "For Christmas, I mean."

Jared shrugged. Sarah's insides squirmed with guilt. She hated the idea of him being all alone for the holidays. But before she could say anything, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small, neatly wrapped package.

"Since I won't be seeing you for awhile, I'll just give this to you now," he said, handing her the box.

Sarah took it. "What is it?"

"It's a present," he said. "A _Christmas_ present," he added, placing his hand over Sarah's to stop her from unwrapping it. She got the hint and put it in her coat pocket. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Jared, I'm afraid I can only accept this present unless you promise me something," she said.

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what might that be?"

"You have to promise me that on Christmas day you'll go and spend the entire day with Al," said Sarah, stubbornly. "And don't even think about making it a quick visit. You'll stay there all day. If Al has a girl over, then you can leave around nine. If he's alone, then you'll have to stay until midnight and not a second sooner."

Jared blinked at her in astonishment at the look of determination. Then he laughed again. "Alright, Sarah, you win. I'll spend the day with that idiot Al if it will make you accept my present."

"Good," said Sarah. "And when I get back I'll be asking him whether or not you stuck to that promise."

"Yes, yes," said Jared, still laughing. "Well, I'll see you in the new year then, Sarah."

They parted. As Sarah headed back to her dorm, she fiddled with the box in her hands and thought that Christmas couldn't come soon enough. Nor could the New Year.

**Ying-Fa: Bum ba na! There you are. Cute, eh? Tell me what you think. I'll be going on vacation and will not be returning until either next Saturday or Sunday, meaning I will be separated from my laptop for an entire week. I promise I'll update as soon as I get back. Please be patient and wait for me. I've got a good chapter coming up to make up for my absence. Regard me kindly.**


	9. Book of Secrets

**Ying-Fa: Ah! It is **_**good**_** to be back! It has been a long week and I've been suffering from laptop-separation-anxiety. But I'm all better now. As promised, here is the next chapter. Not to toot my own horn, but this is about to get pretty good.**

"SARAH!"

Sarah smiled as she stepped out of her car to see her little brother Toby running towards her as fast as he could, his arms spread wide. She bent down and scooped him up in a big hug.

"Hey there, Toby bear!" she said as she squeezed him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you sooooo much!" said Toby as she put him down. "I couldn't wait for you to come home. I've been sitting by the window for a whole hour! Mommy! Daddy! Sarah's here!"

Sarah looked up to see her father and stepmother in the doorway, which Toby had left open in his haste to greet Sarah. They were bundled up in wool sweaters, looking cold but happy.

"Ah, Sarah," said Robert, as Sarah approached and embraced him. "You're back. Did you have a good semester?"

"Yeah, I did," said Sarah, basking in the warmth of her father's bear-like embrace.

"Welcome back, Sarah," said Irene, smiling. "Come in, we're letting the warmth out."

"Mommy, I want to have a snow-fight with Sarah," said Toby, earnestly.

"Not right now, Sport," said Robert. "Maybe you can do it later, but it is too cold and Sarah only just got here."

Sarah stepped into her old home. It looked exactly as it did when she left for college. Only the pictures were different. Their subjects were older and grander than before and there were a lot more pictures of Toby then Sarah remembered.

"Well, come on," said Irene. "Let's get you a cup of hot chocolate, Sarah. You must be freezing."

"I'd really like that," said Sarah, gratefully.

The family of four settled down around the dining room table and sipped at the chocolate. Sarah and Irene were never really close, but Sarah couldn't help but appreciate Irene's culinary skills. Even now, the hot chocolate was richer and more delicious than any she'd had in a long time. Irene's trick was, instead of using hot water, was to use warm milk. The effect was very noticeable and very tasty.

"So," said Robert, wiping his mouth to rid himself of the chocolate mustache he'd given himself. "Tell us about college. How were your classes? Did you make any friends? Did you have fun?"

Sarah told them all about what she'd been doing over at the college. She told them a bit about Jessie and the kind of roommate she was ("Honestly, having a girl like that as a roommate is no consolation," said Irene). The spent the rest of the day mostly catching up before Irene served up a particularly delicious stew for dinner, which Sarah gulped down gratefully. It had been so long since she'd had a home cooked meal like this.

"Well, sounds like you had fun," said Robert, happily. "It really is good to have you home for the holidays."

"Sarah, Sarah, it's CHRISTMAS tomorrow!" said Toby, looking absolutely giddy. "Did you see all the presents I have? I can't wait! I have presents!"

Sarah smiled as she thought of a tiny box she had kept safely hidden in her suitcase that had been bothering her for days now. "Yup, I can't wait for my presents either."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Christmas day dawned cold but bright. Every radio station was playing the same carols over and over as children opened up their gifts with eager expressions that either turned to delight at seeing at the latest toy or disappointment at revealing yet another new pair of socks.

Al grinned as he watched the falling snow. His date for the day, a blonde named Becky, was complaining loudly about the music.

"Honestly, they play the worst music during the holidays," she said. "If I hear 'Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer', I swear I'm turning this off."

Jared, who was sitting lazily on the couch opposite Becky, sighed and tried to ignore her. Al was ultimately surprised that Jared had even come. Al thought he would have to go over to Jared's apartment in the evening to take him some leftover turkey but instead he had shown up on Al's doorstep asking if he would be intruding if he hung out here for the day. Al hadn't been able to refuse Jared anything, so he'd let him in with the warning that he'd have to put up with Becky. So far, Jared seemed to be coping well with Becky's habits. Whether or not that would last was anyone's guess.

"Freddie, baby," whined Becky. "You weren't planning on watching one of those dumb Christmas movies, were you? I'll simply die if I have to sit through 'It's a Wonderful Life' again."

"Never fear, Becky," said Al, calmly. "We're just hanging out here until I get the info from Jacob about the party then we'll head over. Would you like some wine or turkey?"

The three started to enjoy the somewhat mediocre dinner Al had prepared. It was mostly just pre-cooked, store-bought turkey and red wine. Becky dug in right away, but Jared held back, just as Al thought he would.

"You won't have to put up with Becky for long," Al whispered to him. "The turkey and wine will put her to sleep before you know it, then we can lose her at the party."

"Such a thoughtful person you are," said Jared, raising and eyebrow.

"To be completely honest, she's driving me crazy too," said Al, as quietly as he could.

"You say something, baby?" Becky asked, turning around.

"Just how beautiful you look today," said Al smoothly, taking in the bit of turkey she had stuck between her teeth. "You don't have to stick around here, you know," he added to Jared. "It wouldn't hurt my feelings any if you left."

Jared shrugged. "I've got nothing else to do," he said. "Besides, I . . . have an agreement I need to keep."

"Agreement?"

Jared grinned. "Sarah wouldn't accept my present unless I promised to have company over Christmas."

"Aw," gushed Al. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I remember you telling me she was visiting family. Did you seal the deal with another mistletoe kiss? Was the present a ring, by any change? You dog!"

"Shut up."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah sat on her bed in her old room. After she had moved out, Irene had turned it into a guest bedroom. It felt bare and empty compared to what she remembered. Indeed, this whole trip home wasn't exactly what she thought it would be. The happiness at seeing her family again had seemed to only last a few hours. They'd all been happy and pleased to see her, but she now felt like she was visiting people she knew from a very long time ago. It didn't feel right.

_I guess I'm just growing up,_ Sarah thought. She sighed at the irony of it all. Growing up had always been the one thing she had never wanted to do.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in," she called. The door opened and Toby scooted in, wearing the hand-knitted sweater Irene had given him for Christmas. He hurried over to Sarah and jumped up onto the bed with her.

"Hi," he said, brightly.

"Hey there," Sarah replied, smiling.

"Mommy says that dinner is going to be ready in about ten minutes," said Toby. "Are you having a good Christmas, Sarah?"

"I am," said Sarah, truthfully. She had enjoyed the day, opening presents with her family and munching on junk food, but her mind kept wandering. She kept thinking about Jared, where he was now, and if he had kept his promise about spending the day with Al.

"I wish I had more presents," said Toby, pouting as he looked at his new sweater. "I got a lot of clothes this year."

Sarah laughed. "Oh, poor Toby."

"Do you wish you had more presents, Sarah?" Toby asked.

Sarah paused. It would be safe to tell Toby. He wouldn't jump down her throat like his mother would. "Actually," said Sarah. "I still have one more present that I haven't opened yet." She reached under the pillow and pulled out the box Jared had given her.

"Ooooooo," said Toby, looking at it curiously. "Who is that from? Is it from Santa?"

"Nope," said Sarah, smiling. "It's from somebody I know."

"What kind of somebody?" Toby asked. "A boy?"

Sarah hesitated. "He's not really a boy anymore, Toby. He's a grown up."

"A grown up is giving you presents?"

"Yup."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Sarah felt herself blush. "I don't know if I'd call him that just yet, but we are pretty good friends." _Pretty good friends who kiss_, she added in her head.

"What's in it!? What's in it!?" Toby said, bouncing on the mattress with anticipation.

"I don't know yet," said Sarah.

"Open it! Open it!"

Sarah hardly needed Toby's encouragement. Sarah unwrapped the package and opened the box inside.

"Oh."

Sarah gaped at Jared's gift. It was a necklace. It had a fine gold chain and attached to it was a small round charm. Upon further inspection, Sarah saw that the charm was in the shape of a peach. It had little orange stones dotted all around it and some green ones to make up the little leaf that stuck out of the stem.

"Hey, a necklace," said Toby conversationally as Sarah pulled it from the box. "That means he really is your boyfriend."

"Huh?" said Sarah, tearing her eyes away from the stones.

"Daddy always gives Mommy jewelry for her birthday and for Christmas," said Toby. "He says boys always give jewelry to the girl he really likes. He must really like you Sarah. So that makes you boyfriend and girlfriend, doesn't it?"

"If we weren't before," said Sarah, taking off her round, crystal necklace and putting on Jared's gift. "We certainly are now."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

That night, as Sarah slept, the crystal necklace began to give off a faint glow. It moved slowly from its place on Sarah's window sill where she'd left it and headed for Sarah. It was moving steadily toward her, as if being pulled by a magnetic force. It slid of the sill, but did not drop to the floor. Instead it stuck to the wall and slid over to where Sarah was sleeping.

Sarah rolled over in her sleep, her arm falling over the side of the bed. The crystal moved steadily toward her outstretched hand. Still glowing, the necklace inched nearer and nearer to her hand then finally leapt off the wall and wrapped itself tightly around her wrist.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

_A city made out of strange, little houses was covered in a thick frost. Icicles the size of sabers hung from each roof and snow coated the roads. Beyond a frigid city square and a fountain that's water was completely frozen over, was a vast castle. It, like everything else was covered in ice and snow. Its turrets and towers were frosted over and the gates were covered in a thick sheet of ice._

_Despite the ice barrier, the inside of the castle could now be seen. The hallways and passages were covered in ice, just like the rest of the castle. Then, upon entering a vast throne room, the first living thing was discovered._

_A man was sitting in a throne in the center of the room. He was very skinny, with a face like a rat, with greasy brown hair and small, watery eyes. He was eating what looked like a chicken's leg, only ten-times bigger._

_Through a door to the right, a woman now walked in. She was fair with platinum blonde hair that fell to her waist, very pale skin and sharp black eyes._

_"Kendrick," she said, brightly. "Do chew with your mouth closed, won't you?"_

_The man looked up and swallowed what was in his mouth. "I'm not a child anymore, Mother," he said, sulkily. "I am a man now. Not only that, but I am also the King of the Labyrinth now, aren't I?"_

_"Now, Kendrick," said the woman, raising her chin. "Do not forget who it was that made you a king in the first place. Or have you grown tired of your poor old mother? Would you throw her out in the cold?"_

_"Wha!?" Kendrick looked affronted. "I would never! Not only are you the most powerful sorceress that the Underground has ever seen, but you are also my beloved mother!"_

_The woman laughed. "My good little boy," she said, reaching over and pinching the man's thin cheek. "I always knew you'd make a fine king. Now, here we are, ruling in the castle beyond the Goblin City."_

_Kendrick laughed. "Indeed," he said. "With that fool Jareth out of the way, the Labyrinth is ours, as it always should have been."_

_"Right you are, dear," said the woman. "Jareth should have accepted my hand when he had the chance. Still," she lowered her gaze. "That prophesy still bothers me."_

_"It bothers you as well?" said Kendrick, looking frightened. "Oh, yes. I still have nightmares about it. I cannot forget that horrible prophesy. That is why it was so important to kill Jareth."_

_"Fear not, my child," said the woman, patting him consolingly. "As you said, Jareth is dead. We've nothing to worry about from him. Even if we did, that mortal will never regain her memories without a trigger."_

_"But what if she finds a trigger?" asked Kendrick, looking worried._

_"Then she will discover only memories of anger and resentment," said the woman. "There isn't a chance of the prophesy coming to pass. Now, about the Labyrinth. I've noticed that the ice seems to be thinning around the outer hedges."_

_"Oh," said Kendrick, getting up and looking out a window. "You're right. Probably the work of the goblin survivors."_

_"I'll see to it," said the woman. She filled up her lungs with and shrieked "BOREAS!"_

_In an instant, a very pale young man with white hair and icy blue eyes appeared. "You called, Mistress Ethelinda?"_

_"Yes," said Ethelinda. "Send your ice and freeze over the outer hedges. Those rats that Jareth left behind may be trying to cause mischief again."_

_"Yes, Mistress," said Boreas in a bored tone and he vanished._

_"Nothing shall take the Labyrinth from us," said Kendrick, grinning smugly. "Not with the Four Winds at your disposal, Mother."_

_"Certainly not," said Ethelinda. "With Jareth dead and that mortal's memories gone and no trigger to bring them back, there is nothing that can break us. This is the life I have dreamt of all my days. Now, back to your food, my dear, before it gets cold."_

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah's eyes snapped open. She sat up and placed her head in her hands, hardly noticing the crystal necklace that was wrapped around her wrist. That place, that castle, they had all been so familiar. Those people. They'd been saying things. Talking about someone she knew. But she couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember?

She closed her eyes again. She was determined to find them. The secrets that were being kept from her. She had to find them. They were a part of her. They'd been stolen from her. She thought hard about the past few dreams she'd been having about that frozen world.

The fairies . . . the gates . . . the passages . . . the doors . . . the forest . . . the castle . . . the goblins . . . and a king. Not the skinny man she'd seen, but someone else. Someone greater, grander, and much more impressive. A name. They'd said his name.

Jareth.

Sarah threw off her blankets and hurried out into the hall. Looking up, she saw the trapdoor that led upstairs to the attic. They hardly ever used it. It was mostly a place for keeping storage. Sarah reached up for the pull string and opened the door. It swung open and a ladder descended. Hoping against hope that the rest of her family were still fast asleep, Sarah climbed up the ladder.

It was stuffy in there and the air was thick and heavy with dust. A Sarah had expected there were boxes stacked all around. Sarah switched on the lone light bulb that hung from the ceiling and began looking for the right box. She soon found what she was looking for. A large, cardboard box with the words "Sarah's Things" written across the top. Unfortunately, there were two more boxes with the same thing written on it.

_Great_, Sarah thought, disgruntled. _The one thing Irene isn't fussy about. Labeling boxes in the attic._

Sarah opened the first box. There were all her old stuffed animals and toys inside including her stuffed rabbit, her teddy bears (with the exception of Lancelot) and her board games. She combed through them, but didn't find what she was looking for. The next box contained more of her old childhood junk. Her dolls and toys were keeping her from finding what she needed to find. It just _had_ to be there somewhere.

The third box contained even more items, but these seemed more promising somehow. She brushed through a glass figurine, a dwarf-shaped book end, a stuffed fox, a wooden puzzle maze, a pile of fairy tale books, a music box, and several more objects until . . .

There it was. Sitting at the bottom of the box was an old book. A small, red book with the words The Labyrinth stamped across the cover in peeling gold letters. Sarah picked up the book. How could she have forgotten it? This book had been something like her closest friend when she had been a lonely daydreamer in school. She opened it carefully and began to read:

_Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young princess. Her mother vanished when she was very young and she was forever tormented by her wicked stepmother. The stepmother forced the princess to work like a slave and care for the stepmother's infant son and forbade her from leaving the castle. The baby boy was a spoiled child and the princess built up a deep resentment for him._

_But what no one knew, was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the princess and had given her certain powers. So, one night, when she was tired from a day of housework and she was hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother and she could no longer stand it, she raised the baby boy into the air and cried out with a loud voice._

_"Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"_

Sarah skipped through the pages until she reached the every end of the book.

_"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered," said the princess, standing tall before the Goblin King. "I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen."_

_"Stop," cried the Goblin King. "Look, princess. Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams."_

_"For my will is as strong as yours."_

_"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you. And you can have everything that you want."_

_"And my kingdom is as great."_

_"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave."_

_"You have no power over me."_

As she read the words, absolutely everything fell into place in Sarah's mind. It was so overwhelming that tears began to form in her eyes as she finally remembered.

And realized.

"Oh my . . ."

**Ying-Fa: See? I told you it would be good. Please tell me what you think. I'll be back before you know it.**


	10. I'm Afraid

**Ying-Fa: I'm back! Don't worry; I won't keep you guys waiting so long anymore. It's just that the moment I'm finished with a chapter, I post it. And it can take awhile sometimes. Well, here's the next chapter for you. Regard me kindly.**

"And so I said to her, 'Listen, lady, I don't care how much money your daddy has, you are not allowed to treat other people that way!'"

"Oh! Did you really? Oh, Freddie, what did you do after that?"

"Well, she pretty much just pouted at me and ran off to tell her father. Fortunately for me, he decided to cut her off a few days before that. And so, yet another homeless girl out there is thinking fondly of me, the man who stood up for her, and another spoiled little rich girl is put in her proper place."

"Oh, Freddie, that is such a wonderful story. I didn't know you were so hospitable."

"Well, my dear Loretta, I'm truly a soft-hearted individual. I cannot see another's load and I not lend a helping hand."

"You mean like with that man you gave your spare apartment to?"

"Jared? Oh, he's a good guy. Really, he is. He's had it pretty rough. As I said, I simply must help another when I am able to share."

Al grinned at Loretta. She was a pretty, red-headed woman he'd met at the Christmas party he'd gone to with Jared. After he'd ditched Becky, he'd met up with Loretta and stuck with her. At nine-o'-clock sharp, upon seeing Al with a woman, Jared practically ran out of the party in his hast to leave. Unbothered and not at all surprised, Al had spent the rest of his time with Loretta. But that was yesterday, today he was simply enjoying a quiet afternoon with Loretta, a bottle of wine, and some after-Christmas specials.

"What are your plans for New Years, Freddie?" asked Loretta.

"Why, I'm completely free for New Years," said Al, smiling pleasantly. "There's nothing on my schedule, whatsoever."

"That's great. You see, I was hoping you'd be interested in . . ."

But at that moment, the phone rang. With a sigh, Al got up from the couch where he and Loretta had been quite comfortable, and answered it.

"Hello? Uh huh. Oh hi, Sarah. I thought you were at you dads. Oh, really? What can I do for you? Oh? Oh, he doesn't have a phone. Mm hm. Sure do. Where are you now? Oh, you're not too far. Just down two more streets. Yup. The big, gray building on Lancaster. Apartment 7B. Is that it? No, no, I'm glad to help. By the way . . . _what'd he get you for Christmas?_ . . . She hung up."

Al put down the phone, feeling slightly bothered. _Hm. I wonder what's up. I hope nothing's wrong. And was it just me or did she seem . . . nervous?_

"Freddie? Who was it, sweetie?"

Al's attention snapped back to Loretta. "Just Jared's girlfriend," he said, cheerfully. "Now, where were we?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jared was half-asleep on his couch when he heard a knock at his door. He jerked awake, sat up and rubbed his eyes, making sure to take his time. He was going to wring Al's neck for waking him up.

There was another knock.

"Alright," Jared called, not bothering to hide his irritation. He walked slowly over to the door, ready to berate Al for the next hour, but then . . .

"Sarah?"

Sarah looked up at him. She was bundled up in a heavy brown coat and wool gloves. Jared saw at once something was the matter. Her eyes were a bit red and she looked rather upset.

"Jared," she said, his name sticking in her throat.

"Sarah, what are you doing here?" Jared asked with concern. "I thought you were staying with your family until the New Year."

"I came back early," she said, somewhat lamely. "Jared, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but . . . there's something I really, really need to talk to you about."

"Of course," said Jared. He was rather surprised by the seriousness in her voice. "Come in." He stepped back and let her into his apartment. "How did you find out where I lived?"

"I called Al and he told me," said Sarah. "I had to call Jessie to get his number though. I would have called you too, but Al told me you didn't have a phone."

Jared's irritation at Al returned with interest as Sarah said that. _Miserable, traitorous . . ._

"I see," he said, closing the door. "Well, sit down, Sarah. What is it you want to talk to me about?"

Sarah sat down on the couch he had just been dozing off on. She looked awkward, as if she didn't know where to start. He sat down beside her and took hold of her hand. She calmed down slightly at his touch, and then looked up at him.

"Jared," she said, slowly. "Ever since I first met you, I've always had this feeling. Like I know you, but at the same time, I didn't know you. I couldn't figure out why I thought that or felt that. I've been trying and trying to figure it out, but before long, I realized that I really didn't care anymore. I ignored those feelings and focused on how I felt when I was with you. When you were there, I always felt . . . at peace. Before long I realized that I didn't care about something I'd forgotten, as long as I could be with you now. I just wanted to be with you."

Jared stared at her. She'd remember him as well? She wanted to be with him? If that was so, why was she still looking so sad? He didn't like seeing her look sad. He wanted to see her smile again. He reached up and took hold of the back of her neck.

"Sarah . . ." he breathed as he leaned in and kissed her gently. She responded eagerly. As if this was the last kiss they'd ever share. Well, that wasn't about to be the case. Not while he was around.

He continued to kiss her lovingly. He lowered his hand, savoring the texture of her long, dark hair. He then moved to caress her cheek before his fingers slid downward towards her neck. Then something thin and metal interrupted his hand's exploration. It was a chain. She was wearing a necklace.

Still not breaking the contact between his lips with hers, he followed the chain with his fingers. He wanted to feel her wearing the necklace he'd given her. He wanted to see it on her. But as he found the charm attached to the chain, he didn't feel the sparkling stones of the peach he'd given her. Instead, his fingers found something round and smooth . . . and familiar.

He broke away from her at last and looked down at the round crystal hanging from the silver linked chain around her neck.

"I . . . I think it's yours," said Sarah. Reaching back, she undid the clasp and the necklace fell into his hands.

Jared stared at the gem before him. He knew it. He'd seen it before. As if in a trance, be begun to roll it back and forth in his hand with a skill he didn't even know he had. He was so absorbed in what he was doing he didn't even notice Sarah's look of fear as she eyed him playing with the crystal.

"I know this," he murmured, more to himself than to her as the crystal danced over his knuckles. "I . . . made this. Yes. Yes, I made it to help me . . . remember."

He didn't know what made him say it, but it was true. It had to be the truth. There was nothing else it could be. He stopped playing with the crystal and held it tightly in his hand and raised it up to his mouth. He hesitated for a moment, and then pressed the necklace against his lips.

It only took a few seconds. In those seconds, it came back. All of it. Everything he had lost was now back. The images, memories, realizations, all came swarming into his mind all at once in a wave of knowledge. It was almost too much. He bent over, his face in his hands, trying to comprehend everything that had come spinning back to him all at once. It was so overpowering it almost hurt. Then, when he was finally able to collect himself, he took his head out of his hands and turned to look at the girl sitting next to him.

"Sarah."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

A shiver ran down Sarah's spine as Jared said her name. She didn't like it. She didn't like how he was looking at her now. How he had said her name. It was wrong, all wrong. She felt like kicking herself. Why had she given him back that necklace? What had caused her to do it?

Upon recovering her own memories and recognizing the necklace for being more than just jewelry, her first thought had been to go back to Jared and give him the necklace right away. She'd written a note for her family saying there was an emergency at work and they needed her there, she'd left the house before anybody had woken up. But as she got closer and closer to her goal, she'd started to doubt herself. When she'd finally reached his apartment, she'd been a nervous wreck. Now, as she saw him, staring at her with those eyes, she wished she'd just stayed calm and kept the necklace to herself.

"Sarah," he said again. "Sarah, I . . ."

"I'm sorry," Sarah interrupted him. "I . . . I think I should have given that to you a long time ago. It's just . . . I only just remembered myself."

Jared looked down at the necklace in his hands. "How long have you had it?"

"Awhile now," said Sarah, lowering her gaze to the carpet. "It . . . it never occurred to me that it would be yours until . . . recently."

Jared didn't say anything. He looked down at the necklace then down at the floor, like Sarah was. "Thank you," he said. "You . . . you don't know what it means to me, to have found this at last. Three years," he reached up with his free hand and rubbed his eyes with it. "I've been here for three years and I've only just found it."

He made to stand up, but Sarah suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait! Where are you going?" she asked, panic-stricken.

Jared looked down at her. What was it? That look in his eyes? Why was he looking at her like that? "Sarah," again, that tone. That strange, horrible tone. "I think you know full well where I'm going."

Sarah stared at him, her heart beating frantically. "Why? Why now? Why do you have to go back?"

Jared looked at the necklace again before answering her question. "Sarah, if you've had this in your possession, then I'm sure you must have seen it. You've seen it, haven't you? The Labyrinth . . . completely frozen. Those," he shuddered, an angry glare in his eye. "Those _fools_ abusing it. Sucking the life out of it. It can't go on. I have to go back. I have to put an end to it."

He made to get up again, but Sarah clung even tighter to him. He stared down at her in confusion. "Sarah, please, let go of my arm."

"No," said Sarah, stubbornly.

"Sarah, you have to let me go."

"I . . . I don't want to."

"I have to go now."

"No."

"Sarah, let go of my . . ."

"No!"

"Sarah . . ."

"STOP IT!" Sarah screamed, so loudly that Jared stopped trying to free his arm from her grip. "Stop it! Stop it! Just . . . just stop it."

Sarah covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her tears from him. It was no good. He could still see her shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs. When he spoke again, his voice was calmer and gentler. "Sarah, what's wrong?"

Sarah took the few seconds she had before she had to respond to stop her tears. "I . . . I don't want you to go back," she said, between her hands.

"Why?" he asked, simply.

"B-because, if you go there . . . everything will be ruined," Sarah wailed taking her hands away from her face to stare imploringly at him. "You're right. I've seen it. I've seen what's happened to it. But, but I don't think there is anything you can do. It's been three years, right? It's been too long, hasn't it? And besides, you live here now. You have a life here. You don't have to go back because you already have something here. You have a life to live here."

Jared lowered his eyes. "It's not too late. I can go back. I can still save it. And as for my life here . . . what life? I have no life here. Not a real one. This is nothing but a partial existence. Existing just to exist. I have to admit, I'm surprise at you. I would never have believed you to be so heartless towards the Labyrinth and its inhabitants. What about your friends from before? Have you remembered them as well? And yet you are perfectly happy for them to spend eternity frozen within ice that will never melt?"

"N-no," Sarah said shaking her head, frantically trying to rid herself of thoughts of Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus frozen in blocks of ice. "It's not like that. It's just . . . just . . ."

"Just what?" said Jared, his voice rising.

"I don't want to lose you," Sarah blurted out.

Jared blinked. "Don't tell me you're worried about those idiots that are there now. I know them, Sarah. They're not match for me."

"That's not it!" Sarah shrieked. She grabbed his arm again and clung desperately to it. "That's not it. It's . . . it's you. If you go back . . . you'll be lost. I know you will. It's different there. You're different. If you go back, you'll be a completely different person. I know you. I've seen you. And it's not the same."

Sarah looked up at his face, tears in her eyes again. "I'm afraid. I'm so, so afraid. I can't do it. I can't let you go. If you go . . . I don't think I can stand it. I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to go away. Please . . . don't do that to me. Don't leave me behind. You have me here. We have each other here. Doesn't that mean anything to you? If you leave, it'll all go away. Jared . . . Jared . . . Jared, I won't love you when you're the Goblin King!"

She leaned forward and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, tears falling down her face. "Please," she whispered. "Don't do that. Don't go away. Stay with me, you have to. Please, I'm begging you. Stay."

Sarah couldn't say anymore. There were too many tears. She held onto him, crying into his shirt, begging him to understand. Slowly, Jared put his arms around her and hugged her back.

"You love me?" he asked, sounding unable to believe it.

Sarah nodded into his chest. "Y-yes," she sobbed. "I love you, Jared. Please, don't take that away. Please."

"Shh," he said, soothingly.

They stayed like that for awhile. Sarah, crying her heart out in his arms, and Jared stroking her hair and rocking her slightly, trying to calm her tears. Every now and then, he'd plant a kiss on the top of her head. Before long, Sarah's sadness subsided. Completely drained of energy, she slumped against him in exhaustion. Jared turned them slightly and laid her down on the couch, never removing her from his arms.

Before long, the two of them began to drift into the first dreamless sleep they'd had in weeks.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

A few hours later, Jared awoke slowly. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Sarah. She was still sleeping beside him on the couch. He _so_ wanted to touch her, but thought better of it. She needed to sleep. The evening had been hard on them both. As carefully and slowly as he could without disturbing her, Jared slid his arms out from around her and slid off the couch. Sarah let out a soft moan and her arm moved to try and find him. He bent down and kissed her hair again and she calmed at once.

Jared slipped quietly into his room and pulled the blanket off of the futon. Then he went back and, very carefully, covered Sarah with it. The then went back into his bedroom, sat down on the futon mattress and began to think. He stayed like that for a long time. Occasionally, his position changed from sitting, to standing, to lying down, but all the while his head was full to bursting with thoughts.

Finally, he looked over at the clock. It surprised him to see that it wasn't even midnight yet. Winter always made the nights to be so much longer and darker than they should be. It was almost time. He had to make a decision and he had to do it now. He wished, oh how he wished, for more time. For more options. It was a shame, really. The only wishes he couldn't grant, no matter how hard he tried, had to be his own.

Jared went into his closet and began rummaging through what clothes he had. He quickly found what he was looking for. They were the clothes that he had been wearing when Al and his girlfriend had found him three years ago. He quickly changed into them. They still fit perfectly. It was amazing how much more comfortable these were to him than any other clothes he possessed. Of course now he knew why. These were more comfortable because they were what he was always used to. What he'd always worn.

Jared looked out the window. It was pitch black, but he could still make out snow falling. These clothes wouldn't be warm enough. He'd need his black coat as well. But he couldn't leave just yet. He rummaged through his things, found some paper and a pen, and began to write. Once he was done, he went over to his mattress, lifted it, grabbed something from underneath, and stuffed both it and the note into an envelope.

He left the bedroom and quietly reentered the living room where Sarah was still sleeping. Walking as quietly as possible, he bent down and picked up the crystal necklace that had been dropped earlier. Jared braved a glance at the sleeping girl. He resisted the impulse to go over to her and give her one final kiss on the top of the head. He couldn't afford to risk waking her up. Grabbing his long, black coat and swinging it over his shoulders and dropping the necklace into his pocket, he opened the door and, with one last glance at the sleeping girl, closed it with a soft snap.

Jared walked quickly down the stairs to the complex lobby. As he crossed the hall, the night guard saw him.

"Heading out a bit late, aren't you?" asked the guard.

"For good reason," said Jared. "Hey, listen; could you do me a favor?"

"I don't know," replied the guard. "That depends on the favor."

"If Alfred Campbell comes looking for me, could you give him this?" Jared asked, holding out the envelope.

The guard took it and examined it. "Hm. I could do that."

"Thanks," said Jared, as he headed for the door. He wanted to get out of there quickly.

"No problem," said the guard, watching Jared as he walked away.

The biting winter cold hit Jared hard as he stepped outside. He scowled and looked around. There was nobody in sight, but that still didn't mean he couldn't be seen. He'd have to go somewhere secluded. He headed down the block. Just before he could round the corner, he glanced back at the window to the apartment he'd been staying in for three years. There was no sign of life within the black windows. With a sense of grim satisfaction, he rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

But three seconds later, the lights in his apartment snapped on.

**Ying-Fa: Oi! The drama! Well, tell me what you think, as always. Leave me lots and I'll be back in a jiffy!**


	11. Hand of Sorrow

**Ying-Fa: Hey there, people! Okay, due to popular demand and my personal happiness at achieving over 100 reviews, I have decided it is time to throw the name Jared out the window and start addressing our smexy Goblin King by his proper name, Jareth. However, for the sake of the story, Sarah will continue to address him as Jared. She will switch eventually, but it may still be awhile. With that out of the way, here is the next chapter.**

_**He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life,**_

_**He prayed for both, but was denied**_

Sarah awoke slowly, instantly feeling something was wrong. She opened her eyes to find herself alone on the couch, a blanket laid over her and the apartment was dark and much too quiet.

"Jared?" she called, groggily. "Jared?"

There was no answer. Sarah sat up, threw the blanket from off of her and hurried over to the light switch. The lights snapped on, making her eyes ache and water from the sudden flood of light that completely shattered the darkness.

"Jared," Sarah called again. She started wandering around the rooms, one by one. He wasn't in his bedroom, or the bathroom, or anywhere in the tiny apartment. "Jared!"

Starting to panic, Sarah reached up and felt her neck. The necklace was gone. She went back over to the couch and searched the floor for it. She threw the cushions off of the couch in desperation to find it. But it was gone.

"No," Sarah whispered frantically to herself. "He didn't . . . he couldn't have . . . no. No, no! Jared! JARED!"

Sarah grabbed her coat and ran out of the apartment, running down the stairs as fast as she could. Was she already too late? Was he already lost to her? She sprinted into the main hall only to get stopped by the night guard.

"Hey," he said. "What's the rush, lady?"

"Please," Sarah gasped, looking desperately at the guard. "Jared. Have you seen him? Has he gone by here?"

"7B? Oh yeah, he went by here," replied the guard. "He asked me to deliver something to Alfred Campbell if he ever showed up looking for him."

"Did he leave anything for Sarah Williams?" Sarah asked.

"Nope," said the guard. "He just left the note and walked off."

Sarah let out a growl of frustration. "When did he come through here? How long ago was it?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the guard. "At least five to ten minutes."

Ten minutes. There could still be time. Sarah gave the guard a hurried word of thanks before sprinting off out of the complex. She looked around at the frigid night before her. Which way did he go?

Sarah looked down at the ground and immediately blessed the falling snow. There were footprints in it. They were his. She just knew it. She followed the tracks, running as fast as she could on the frigid sidewalk. She didn't dare look back. She had to find him. She wasn't about to give up the man she loved. She wasn't going to let the Goblin King take him away.

Following the tracks in the snow was harder than she ever could have thought. A couple of times she lost the trail completely in a few stretches of street that the snow couldn't reach. She pressed forward. She couldn't lose him.

It was getting extremely cold now. She'd left her gloves back in the apartment in her haste to go after him. She ran faster, the work helping her warm up some. Before long, she knew where her feet where taking her. If only she could get there before it was too late.

Then she arrived. It was the park where the two of them had spoken before she left. Where he had given her the Christmas present. In the distance she could make out someone in a long, black coat walking steadily away.

"JARED!"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It took strength to turn around and face her. He did so slowly, reluctant to see her. It was difficult enough as it was without her running after him.

Sarah looked a mess. Her dark hair was all over the place and her face was red and she seemed unable to catch her breath. Had she run to him the whole way from the apartment?

"Jared," she gasped. "Jared, where are you . . .?"

"That's not my name, Sarah," he said, trying to keep his face without expression and his voice without tone. "You know very well that's not what my name is. I can't recall. Did you ever learn what my name was? I don't remember telling you myself."

Sarah faltered and didn't say anything. He knew what was wrong. She knew what was coming. She knew why he'd left her alone in the apartment, and where he was going. But she didn't want to accept it.

"My name is Jareth," he said.

"I knew that," said Sarah, a little too quickly. "Ho . . . someone told me."

Jareth sighed. "Can't even bring yourself to say his name? That's depressing. Even five years after you left the Underground, you still called upon him and the other creatures time and time again. I used to watch them go to your side. I admit I was always a bit jealous."

"You're leaving," said Sarah, suddenly. "You're going back, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why!? Why do you have to go back? Why are you leaving me?"

"Because it is my responsibility," said Jareth, looking hard into Sarah's eyes. "I was the one who built the Labyrinth. I am the one who reigns over it. All the creatures there are my responsibility and I can't abandon them. Not even if I wanted to."

"Can't abandon them?" Sarah asked. "You already did abandon them. You left and came here."

"I came here so that we could have a chance," said Jareth. "I was weakened when we were attacked. I didn't have the will to fight them off. If I had stayed, I would have died in the ice. Instead I cast a spell. It was a spell that would take me to the Aboveground, or at least half of me there. I would be taken to this place, but I would lose not only my powers but all of my memories of the Underground along with it. That is why I created the necklace. It would help me remember my world while I was here, and to help me return. And it is about to fulfill its purpose," he looked over at the clock in the center of the park. "When that clock strikes midnight, it will be thirteen-o'-clock in the Underground and I will be able to bring myself back."

_**So many dreams were broken and**_

_**So much was sacrificed**_

Jareth lowered his gaze. "It wasn't my intention to bring you back into all of this, Sarah. If anything, I'd merely hoped to catch a glimpse of you while I was here. I didn't mean for any of this."

Sarah hesitated. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I understand. You go to them. You help the Labyrinth. Help free it from the spell. But, once you're done, you can come back. You can come back here, can't you?"

Jareth closed his eyes for a moment, and then shook his head. "No. Once I go back there, I'm going to stay there. I will not be returning to this place."

"What?" gasped Sarah. "Why not? Why can't you come back? Why can't you stay here?"

"Once I get back there," Jareth explained. "I will find the powers that I lost, the other half of me that is still trapped in the Labyrinth and be whole again. The only way I would be able to return here after that is to tear myself in half all over again. If I did that, the Labyrinth would be left without a ruler and then who knows what could happen to it then."

"Then find someone to take your place," said Sarah.

"No."

"Stop it," she shrieked. "Why are you doing this? Why are you so keen to leave me behind?"

Jareth hung his head. "That's not it. You don't realize how it kills me to leave you here, Sarah. But this is how it must be. I thought if I just disappeared while you slept, it would be easier for you when you woke up and didn't find me there. But you awoke and ran after me."

Sarah glanced at the clock. Only ten minutes until midnight. She turned back to him, her eyes tearing again. "Of course I ran after you. How could I not? I already told you. I love you."

The words seemed to actually cause him physical pain as he heard them. He looked back at Sarah with pure misery in his eyes. "Ah, Sarah. Even after all that happened, you still haven't learned to mean what you say."

"But I did mean it," Sarah cried, earnestly. "I do mean it!"

"Not like you should," said Jareth.

"What do you mean? Jared, I . . ."

"Sarah, _that's just it_," said Jareth. "Your love is misplaced. You love someone who does not exist. You love Jared. Jared and not Jareth. But don't you see? You can't have one without the other. You can't have just one. And, sadly, your heart has chosen the one that was never really there at all."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked. "You're right here! I'm looking right at you!"

"You're looking at a shell, Sarah," he said. "A nothing man. I don't belong here. If I stay here, I will forever be incomplete. Could you do that, Sarah? Could you live out the rest of your life in pieces? Never being truly whole? Could you live like that? That's what you are asking me to do, Sarah. And it kills me."

Sarah shook her head in disbelief. "But why? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't we be together?"

"But you already know that," said Jareth. "Because you don't truly love me."

"Yes, I do!"

"Was it not you who earlier said that you would no longer love me when I was the Goblin King?" asked Jareth, his voice rising. "That is why. If you can't love everything about someone, can't accept everything about them, then there can be no love. You cannot change what I am, Sarah. You cannot gloss over the fact that I am what I am."

_**Was it worth the ones we loved and**_

_**Had to leave behind?**_

Sarah stared at him in shock. Jareth nodded. "See? It can't be helped. I have to go back, it isn't an option for me. And you . . . it will probably be best if you just let me go. Go on without me."

Sarah continued to stare at him, as if unable to believe what he was saying. Tears slid down her face. "You're really going to just go, aren't you? What about us? What about my love for you? You're just going to leave me behind? Just throw it all away? Throw away everything we could have had? Everything we can still have? You're just going to turn me away?"

Jareth closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. Then, very slowly, he looked back up at Sarah, and this time there was something new in his eyes. Something that made him more like the great being he truly was. Harshness was in his mismatched eyes that hadn't been there before. And then, he spoke.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It took a second for Sarah to understand what he had said, and then the full effect of his words hit her with enough force to knock over a cart horse. Her mind ran back to eight years ago. To the very end of her journey in the Labyrinth.

_. . . the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl . . ._

_"I have been generous up until now."_

_"I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you."_

_"I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me."_

_"I ask for so little, just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want."_

_"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."_

And despite it all.

_"You have no power over me."_

Sarah clapped her hands over her mouth. Hot tears were streaming down her face. She was so stupid. So, so stupid. How could she have said that? Why did she have to notice this now? All those years ago, he'd loved her. He'd loved her so much he'd nearly broken his back trying to give her whatever her foolish, young heart desired. He'd begged her to return his feelings. He hadn't wanted her to return to her home, but stay with him. Return his love and stay with him. That was all he'd wanted and yet she'd thrown his generosity aside. She'd taken his love and thrown it in his face. She'd rejected his love and left him alone.

Just as he was doing to her now.

Sarah's feet wouldn't hold her up anymore. She knelt in the snow, ignoring the cold, and dissolved into tears. She was stupid. She was selfish, spoiled, and stupid. Even after all these years, she hadn't changed at all. And now the past had come back after all this time to punish her.

_**So many years have past,**_

_**Who are the noble and the wise?**_

_**Will all our sins be justified?**_

She could hear him move. He walked slowly towards her, knelt down and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean that. Maybe . . . maybe I'm just worse than I thought. I don't want to leave you. If I could have both you and my world at once I'd do it in a second. Please don't misunderstand, Sarah. I love you. I love you more than anything and that's what is killing me to leave you behind. Oh, how I wish you loved me back. But you've fallen in love with an illusion that will disappear the moment I get my powers back."

Sarah felt something hot and wet drop into her hair. Tears. His tears. "This is the way it has to be," he said, his voice breaking. "If we go on like this, one of us will be destroyed. I can't do that to you. I love you too much. I'll always love you. No matter who I am, or where. I'll always be there."

_**Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear**_

_**For the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be**_

_**Still, I'll be the hand that serves you**_

_**Though you'll not see that it is me**_

Suddenly, a loud gonging noise filled the still night air. It was midnight. In an instant, his arms where gone from around her. Her head snapped up, but it was already too late. He was gone.

"Jared!" she screamed. "No, wait! JARED!"

But she was alone in the dark, snowy park grounds. Overwhelmed with grief, Sarah dissolved into tears again. The only man she'd ever loved was gone forever and he'd never come back. She'd never see him again. She blew it.

Sarah cursed into the silence. "I hate this," she moaned, miserably. "I _hate_ this! It's not fair! It really, really isn't! I love him, doesn't that mean anything!? Oh, please. Somebody . . . anybody . . . bring me back to him. Help me."

Just as the grief-stricken girl whispered those words, she felt a presents behind her. She was no longer alone. Slowly, Sarah took her face out of her hands and turned, just as slowly, to face the newcomer.

A young man, with silvery-white hair, blue crystal eyes, and dressed in a blue robe trimmed with fur and a diamond staff was staring down at her.

"You called?" he said, smiling innocently.

_**Will all our sins be justified?**_

**Lyrics from "Hand of Sorrow" by Within Temptation**

**Ying-Fa: I love Within Temptation. They have so many awesome songs. And this one fit so well I just had to put it in. Please don't kill me. I know some of you freaked out a bit when things got bad in my last story. But just like before, good things will come. It is back down in the Underground after this people. If you leave me nice, long reviews, you may not scare me away into hiding. I can write a whole lot more when I'm out in the open, people!**


	12. Touch of the Master's Hand

**Ying-Fa: Sorry for the wait. You wouldn't believe the week I've had. Wow, I got a lot of reviews from some of you. They were kinda mixed, a lot of things from "He was so mean!" to "She totally deserved it!" I was worried that you wouldn't like it, but you did. I am so happy! And you all did SO well in giving me long reviews. (sniffles) I'm so touched. So, without further ado, whatsoever, I give you the next chapter. Please enjoy.**

He knew, as Sarah vanished from out of his arms, that that would be the last time he would ever be able to hold her. Jareth's raised his hand to his eyes and rubbed them hard with his thumb and index fingers, ridding them of some of the left over sorrow that had remained. Once they were dry again, he lifted his head to the black sky of the Underground.

_There you are, Boreas,_ he thought, bitterly. _I did it. I took my revenge on Sarah. Now she'll hate me for the rest of her days. Is that enough?_

Jareth stood up out of the deep snow that surrounded him, his mind still on Sarah. It had been wonderful while it had lasted. To have been blissfully unaware that, in reality, he had been the one person in the entire world Sarah cared about the least. For about a month, one glorious month, he and Sarah had shared the beginnings of love. She had let him speak to her, be near her, hold her, and kiss her all he wanted. But that was gone now. It was over.

_Jared was the lucky one_, he thought dully. _He had been the one to have Sarah's love. But he's gone now, or at least, just about gone. I still need to restore my powers. That means making it to the castle._

Jareth lowered his gaze and turned to see what was left of his Labyrinth. The walls and passages where completely white now and snow was falling in swarms all over it. He stared at the frigid land and a new emotion came over him. Something he hadn't truly felt in a long time. Something that overpowered his grief from losing Sarah.

Hatred. A desire for revenge.

His hands curled into fists and shook with rage. This was all their fault. Ethelinda and Kendrick together had ruined everything he had. And for what? A prophecy that would never come true? Absurd. Jareth pulled his coat on tighter around him as he headed out for the Labyrinth's gates, his mind was set.

He would search the Labyrinth and look for any goblin survivors. He would need them once he got in the castle. Once he found them and gave them their orders, he'd sneak into the castle, find the part of him that was left behind and restore his powers. Once he was back to how he used to be, he would send word to the goblins and they would attack the castle and reclaim it as their own.

Then he would see to Kendrick and Ethelinda.

He marched in the snow, his arms folded to keep himself somewhat warm. He reached the doors and stretched out his hand to touch it. It wasn't there. He couldn't feel the life that once coursed through the walls of the Labyrinth. Jareth moved closer, leaning into the door, trying to find any remainder of the magic. It was so still. So cold and quiet. It had retreated into itself, to escape the cold.

Jareth moved closer still, leaning his forehead against the doors.

"Wake up," he whispered.

There was suddenly a loud creaking and groaning coming from the door. He backed away, slowly and watched as the doors fought against the ice that sealed it up. After a moment, loud snapping noises filled the air. Deep cracks appeared in the ice and slowly, very slowly, the doors swung open with much moaning and groaning.

Jareth ran his hand along the open doors, almost in a reassuring way before he stepped through to the Endless Corridor. As he walked by a clump of frozen Eyed-Fungi, you might have been able to see a few of the glassy eyes turn slightly toward Jareth, as if drawn to him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah stared at the newcomer, whipping her disheveled hair out of her face. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The young man smiled. "Excuse me for startling you," he said. "I'm known by many names, to be honest. Some people call me North Wind, others refer to me as the Winter Frost, but I suppose if I had a name it would be Boreas."

"Boreas?" said Sarah, confused. "You're the North Wind?"

"Yes, I am," said Boreas, with a smile. "I'm glad to see you catch on quickly. I knew you must be sharp. After all, you did solve the Labyrinth on your first try. And you even did it without any magic, for that matter. That is amazing."

Sarah blinked at him. "You're from the Underground?"

"Sure am," said Boreas, winking cheekily. "My beloved brothers and I were born there."

"You can't take me back there with you, could you?" Sarah asked, insistently.

Boreas chuckled. "I don't think you'd wanna go there. All you'd find there is grief and misery, especially in your current state."

"But I have to go back," Sarah insisted. "I have to find Jared. I have to stop him!"

"Jared?" said Boreas, looking puzzled. "Who's Jared? Did you wish somebody away by accident again? Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find him around here somewhere. Kendrick doesn't answer to the calls of Abovegrounders the way Jareth did."

"No," said Sarah. "No, I didn't wish him away. He's . . . he's half of the . . . the Goblin King. I have to find him before he finds his powers."

"Half of the Goblin King?" Boreas looked more confused than ever. "I must admit, I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about."

Sarah, feeling a bit annoyed, quickly explained everything Jareth had told her. Boreas listened without interrupting, but his icy eyes grew steadily wider as she spoke.

"And now he's gone back," said Sarah, her sorrow coming back full-force. "He's gone. He's left me. I don't want him to leave. I need him to come back. I love him."

At these last few words, Boreas looked simply astounded. "You _love_ him? Seriously?"

"Yes," snapped Sarah. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

Boreas lowered his head, looking deep in thought. "She loves . . . half of him. Strange. Does that count? Will it be enough? Hm, I don't know. It may have to be true love to count. Maybe if they met again . . ."

"Hey," Sarah snapped again. "I'm right here, you know."

"Sorry," said Boreas, jumping back into the conversation. "I kinda got lost in thought there for a second. So, you've fallen for Jareth's human form. You know it is a form that doesn't really exist, right?"

"He . . . said that," Sarah replied, sadly.

"And . . . you're _sure_ you don't feel _anything_ for Jareth?" asked Boreas. "Nothing for him at all? Not even a teeny, tiny little something-something?"

Sarah stared at Boreas. "Why do you care so much?" she asked, suspiciously.

"No reason," said Boreas, smiling benignly. Sarah didn't fall for it.

"What do you want?" she asked, now harshly. "Why do you care about how I feel about someone else? Go away and leave me alone." She turned from him angrily.

Boreas frowned. "I'm afraid I can't do either of those things," he said. "I'm asking you these questions for a very good reason. A reason that has a lot to do with me and is very dear to my heart. Please, tell me. Have you ever felt any affection for Jareth?"

Sarah hesitated to answer. She still had her back to Boreas and her arms were folded against the cold. "I don't know," said Sarah, stubbornly. "I haven't seen the Goblin King for eight years. Not since I beat the Labyrinth and got Toby back. Since then, I've only ever seen my three friends until something happened and I forgot about them for awhile."

"Friends?"

"Yes, my friends," said Sarah turning back to them. "They helped me when I was in the Labyrinth and I called to them if I ever needed them after that."

"Friends?" said Boreas again. "What are friends?"

Sarah stared at him. "What? You-you don't know what a friend is?"

Boreas looked upward, thoughtfully, and then shook his head. "Nope. I've never heard of them."

"Seriously?" said Sarah. She would have thought the North Wind to be a bit more knowledgeable. "Well . . . well, a friend is someone you care about and who cares about you. Someone who wants to help you and you want to help them."

"Really?" said Boreas, thoughtfully. "Hm. Well, that's something."

"Why don't you know what a friend his?" Sarah asked.

Boreas lowered his head. "I guess because I don't know very much about the nicer things in life. I haven't had nice things in my life for a very, very long time. The only good things in my life are my brothers. Other than that, I have nothing good to live for."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

Boreas blinked. "It is a very long and ugly story," he said. "It's up to you if you want to be burdened with it or not."

"I'll listen," said Sarah.

Boreas sighed and looked around at the falling snow. "The wind isn't the same here as it is there. There was a time, many, many years ago, where the winds blew so fiercely and wildly, they threatened the life of all that lived in the Underground. To help the people, a sorceress used her powers to separate the winds and seal them into four, corporeal forms. This way, their powers could be used one at a time and only for the purpose of good. That is how my brothers and I were born.

"Now, this sorceress was a kind, gentle spirit. Her name was Amaranth and she ruled over us well. She was our mother as well as our master and we did as she bid us do willingly. We loved her, my brothers and I. It never occurred to us that . . . she could . . . die."

Boreas looked at Sarah and she could see actual pain in his eyes. "She fell ill. Powerful though she was, Amaranth couldn't help herself that much, and the four of us had no skill in healing. So, she enlisted the help of woman who said she knew a few things about the art of curing. But the woman lied. She only said that so that she could get close to Amaranth, and to us. So one night, while we all slept, that woman . . . that woman . . . she murdered her. She killed Amaranth in her sleep and we've been forced to do her bidding ever since. But she is a poor master. She corrupts our purpose and uses our powers for her own bidding. Her name is Ethelinda and she is the one who forced me to cast the spell of eternal frost over Jareth, his Labyrinth and all of the creatures that live in it."

Sarah stared as Boreas finished his story. "You mean this . . . this Ethelinda is the one who attacked the Labyrinth? She made it freeze over?"

Boreas bit into his white lip. "Um," he said slowly. "No. The Labyrinth freezing over was . . . my doing."

There was a pause and then Sarah stepped closer to Boreas and began beating every inch of him she could reach.

"Ow! OW! Ow! Hey! Stop it! That hurts!"

"YOU did it!" Sarah screamed, still beating on Boreas. "YOU froze the Labyrinth! You made him come here! It's all your fault!"

"Yes, ow, I know, ow!" Boreas said, cowering against Sarah's attack. "But, ow, I came, eek, to help, oh, set things, ouch, right!"

"Set things, right," said Sarah, stopping her offense to scowl at him. "Oh, yeah? And just how do you plan on doing that, North Wind?"

"Ethelinda made me freeze the Labyrinth over," said Boreas, relieved that she'd stopped hitting him. "She . . . she did it because she was scared. She is the one to blame for all of this. She didn't want the prophecy to come true."

"Prophecy?" said Sarah, forgetting her rage for a moment to glare at him. "What prophecy?"

"The last prophecy that Amaranth made before she was murdered," said Boreas. "A prophecy about you. You and Jareth."

Sarah stared. "What about us?"

Boreas straightened up. "The prophecy foretold that the Labyrinth would be defeated by an Abovegrounder. The same Abovegrounder that would fill the Goblin King's heart with a love that would run unrequited. The prophecy states that the Abovegrounder and the Goblin King were to be brought together again by the hand of Jezebel. If love blossoms between the two of them upon their reunion, then it would bring about the death of Ethelinda and her spoiled son, Kendrick."

Sarah gaped at him. "But, that's not possible. I . . . we . . . I don't want to kill anybody. And I don't know any Jezebel. How could . . ." But then something reappeared in her mind. A woman smiling frightfully, a mess of forgotten treasures and among them was the very thing that had drawn her and Jared together.

"Jezebel's Antiques," she gasped. "That's where I bought the necklace. That's when I started dreaming. That's when I met him."

"Sounds to me like the prophecy is starting to come true," said Boreas, nodding to her. "You and Jareth are together again. That is why I ask if you have any feelings for him."

"I . . . I don't know!" said Sarah, burying her face in her hands. Boreas came closer to her.

"You know," he said. "I bet if you saw him again, you might feel differently."

Sarah looked up at him. "You'll do it, then? You'll take me back there?"

"If I didn't you'd start hitting me again," said Boreas, grinning. "Listen, the reason you forgot about the Labyrinth until recently is because Ethelinda put a forgetfulness spell upon you. You never realized it, but she cursed you from the Underground. She's a powerful sorceress and a dangerous person. If she sees you there, she might panic. You must make her think that you being there has nothing to do with Jareth."

Sarah frowned in thought and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out again. "What should I do?" she asked.

"The best thing you can do is to sweet talk Kendrick," said Boreas. "That's her son. He's a spoiled pig, but Ethelinda would give him anything he wants."

Sarah's stomach churned at the idea, but if it meant getting the man she loved back, then she didn't care. "Okay, I'll do it. What do I have to do?"

Boras just smiled and extended his arm to her. "Just take my hand, and we can go."

Sarah reached out, hesitated, and then grabbed onto Boreas's pale, chilly hand. In an instant, Sarah felt herself being consumed by a fierce wind. In the next instant, she was standing before the vast castle that stood at the center of the Labyrinth. The castle beyond the Goblin City stood coated with ice but whole. The same could not be said for the rest of the Goblin City. Roofs of the crooked houses had caved in from the pressure of the snow, windows were broken and walls had crumbled.

"The goblins," said Sarah, staring around. "Where are they? What happened to them all?"

"Jareth evacuated the city before it froze over," explained Boreas. "He hid them in the lower tunnels of the Labyrinth where they had a chance of survival. Goblins don't fare well in the cold, which is why Ethelinda sent me."

Sarah stared at the frigid castle and the ruined city. She suddenly felt the horrible impulse to start beating Boreas again, but held herself back. This wasn't really his fault.

"BOREAS!"

The two jumped as someone came out of the castle doors. A skinny, rat faced man came out to meet them.

"Where have you been?" he barked. "Mother has been looking for you. And what is this?" he looked over at Sarah. His eyes widened as he looked her up and down.

"Oh, King Kendrick," said Boreas. "This is . . . um, an Abovegrounder who was wished away recently. I heard the call and decided to . . ."

"Silence," snapped Kendrick. He was still staring at Sarah. She didn't like the way he was eyeing her. Finally, he spoke in a voice that was almost as oily as his hair.

"Welcome, Abovegrounder," he said. "I am Kendrick, Lord of the Labyrinth. Do come inside, you'll find it to be much warmer in there."

Kendrick beckoned Sarah into the castle. Not daring to say no, she went inside obediently. She couldn't help but notice with a pang of disgust that Kendrick kept staring at her in all the wrong places. As she walked in, she could have sworn she'd heard Boreas whisper in a surprised voice.

"I don't believe it. It's melting."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Deep inside the Labyrinth, four creatures sat huddled together, trying to stay warm in their dark shelter.

"D-d-don't k-k-know w-why they h-h-have to ke-ke-keep everyth-thing so c-c-c-cold all the t-time," grumbled Hoggle, shivering. "J-J-Jareth's al-al-ready go-gone."

"Be of stout heart, Sir Hoggle," said Sir Didymus. "We must not let the ice and snow dampen out spirits. The worst is yet to come."

"Easy f-f-for you to s-s-say," stammered Hoggle. "You and L-L-Ludo have all that f-f-fur to k-k-keep warm with."

"Don't forget Ambrosius," said Didymus, patting the head of his loyal steed. Ambrosius barked loudly, and the sound echoed throughout the oubliette that the creatures had used for a haven from the frost. It hadn't been the best idea for Ludo, who was quite taller than the others and kept banging his head on the rocky ceiling.

"Ludo cold," wailed the monster, sadly. "Ludo want Sawah."

"I miss the good lady as well," said Didymus. "But she hasn't called for us for the last three years. I wonder what changed her mind so."

"N-now that I th-think about it," said Hoggle. "She st-stopped t-t-talking to us once the L-Labyrinth f-f-froze over."

Didymus sighed. "I do wish she'd call upon us," he said. "It would be such a relief to see her again and get away from this wretched frost."

"Sawah," said Ludo. "Sawah gone."

Suddenly, Didymus stuck his nose into the air and sniffed. "My brethren," he said, suddenly. "Canst thou smell something?"

"My n-n-nose is f-f-frozen over," said Hoggle, grumpily. "I haven't sm-sm-smelled anything for th-three years."

"Ludo smell," said Ludo.

Ambrosius barked again.

"It smells like," said Didymus, his nose in the air again. "Like . . . my lady. And," he sniffed again. "His Majesty."

"S-S-Sarah?" said Hoggle, looking horrified. "She's h-h-here? And J-J-Jareth? He's been d-d-dead f-f-for y-y-years."

"But I could swear an oath that it is him," said Didymus, solemnly. "I'm sure that it is the lady and His Majesty. Hm? Strange?"

"Wh-what is?" asked Hoggle.

"Is it just me," said Didymus. "Or has it gotten just a tiny bit warmer all of a sudden?"

**Ying-Fa: There you have it! The way I see it, Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus are important characters in the story. I don't really like it when they are left out completely. Sure, it's cool to hear about Sarah and Jareth, but those guys are part of everything too. So, please keep sending me those nice long reviews and tell me what you think.**


	13. Plots and Plans

**Ying-Fa: Alright, here's the next chapter. Please keep enjoying my story and sending me lovely reviews. You know how I love them.**

Boreas hurried through the hall. "Little brother," he called. "Little brother, where are you?"

Upon seeing the ice he'd covered the Labyrinth in starting to melt, he'd managed to sneak away from Kendrick and Sarah to find his youngest brother. "Little brother!" he called again. He hurried to a dark chamber that had served as a kind of dungeon when Jareth had been in command. Now however, it served as the room where Ethelinda kept the Winds when she didn't need them.

Boreas was about to call again when he felt a very soft draft pass by him. He sighed in relief. "There you are," he said. "I've been looking all over for you."

A young boy appeared before Boreas. He was slight and small with curly golden hair and big brown eyes. He was dressed in a neat little tunic and shorts, despite the chill that spread through the whole castle and he had bands of leaves and flowers tied to his wrists and ankles and a matching headband.

"Boreas," he cried in delight. "I was worried when you disappeared so suddenly. Where did you go? Boy, I'm glad Ethelinda didn't call you while you were away. She'd have been so angry if she called and you weren't there. Where did you go? Did you bring anything back for me?"

"Not right now," said Boreas. "There is something going on right now and I need your help."

"My help?" said the boy. "Do you need our other brothers too?"

"Not right now," Boreas repeated. "Listen. A chain of events has been put into action and I'll need to make sure everything goes smoothly."

"What kind of chain?" asked the boy.

"A chain that will rid us of Ethelinda and Kendrick forever," said Boreas.

"Really!?"

"Of course," said Boreas. "Now, I need you to go out into the Labyrinth and look for someone. If Ethelinda calls you for anything, tell you that you went out there to play and that your power is what was causing the ice around the Labyrinth to melt."

"It's melting," said they boy, looking awestruck.

"Yes," said Boreas. "But Ethelinda must not suspect anything. Will you help me or not?"

"I wanna help," said the boy. "I'd be glad to help. But, brother, why is the Labyrinth melting?"

Boreas smiled. "Because its king has returned and its hope is restored."

"Really!?" said the boy again. "Wow!"

"Now, I want you to go into the Labyrinth and look for him," said Boreas. "Tell him that the Four Winds are on his side and wish to aid him. If he asks you to help him, do it, okay?"

"Okay," said the boy and he vanished, leaving behind the scent of flowers.

"The king has returned, you say," said a new voice behind Boreas. "How can that be? You froze him yourself, Boreas."

"The king is far greater than we thought," said Boreas, turning around to see another of his brothers. This one was a slouched man with wet, wrinkled skin, long straggly hair, a thin mustache, and a tiny devil beard. He was dressed in a heavy, wool robe and water was dripping from off his hair and beard.

"If so, then Ethelinda really is foolish to trifle with him," said the brother. "But, I wonder, what is there to be gained?"

"Quite a bit, my dear Notus," said Boreas. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go find some people. You and Eurus keep the old hag and the spoiled brat distracted while we're gone."

"No problem," said Notus, as Boreas vanished in a flurry of snow.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jareth strolled quickly through the frozen hedges. Snow crunched beneath his feet as he walked down the passages. He knew there was a shortcut around here that lead down to the tunnels. With luck, he'd find the goblins down there, alive and waiting for instruction. But would they recognize him? He was sure he'd be able to persuade them that he was their master and king, but how long would it take for their brains to comprehend such information.

As he walked, Jareth heard something going on behind him. He turned to see that a few of the hedges seemed to be awakening. The snow was dripping off them steadily and every now and then, a tiny green leaf could be seen poking out from under the frost as if to see if the coast was clear. He smiled. The Labyrinth was starting to regain its hope.

"It won't be long now," he said soothingly. "We're getting close now. Just a little longer and all the wrongs done to you shall be righted. Just wait a little longer."

A few more leaves appeared from out of the snow, as if encouraged by his words. Jareth smiled and went to go on, but paused. He'd felt something he shouldn't have. He'd felt a light, fairly warm breeze that had the scent of flowers to it. He turned around and there stood the young boy.

"Wow," he said. "Boreas was right. You really are back. Gee, you don't look quite the same as before. Is this a new look?"

"You," said Jareth, eyeing the boy. "I know who you are. You're the West Wind, aren't you?"

"You know my name! You know my name," the West Wind seemed absolutely delighted. "That's right. I'm Zephyr, the Spring Breeze."

"I thought so," said Jareth. "Why are you here?"

"Boreas told me you were back," said Zephyr. "He want's to help you. I wanna help too!"

"Help me?" said Jareth, skeptically. "That's strange. I don't think your mistress would like that very much."

"Boreas doesn't see Ethelinda as our mistress," said Zephyr, hanging his head. "He and Eurus . . . they don't care for her. They hate her. They want Amaranth back, but she can't come back. Ethelinda is our mistress now, even if she is a bad mistress."

"Really?" said Jareth mildly interested. "And how do you and Notus feel on the matter?"

"I don't like her," said Zephyr, lowering his eyes. "Notus doesn't either. I think Notus is the saddest about it. He misses Amaranth more than anyone. He's still very sad about it. Boreas and Eurus are more . . . angry than sad. And as for me . . . I smile. I smile to see if that will help anybody feel happier. Inside, I'm as sad as Notus. I'm not happy, but I smile anyway."

"Truly, you are the purest of heart among the four of you," said Jareth. "You have my sympathy, Zephyr. But I must be going. I need to find my subjects."

"I'll help you," said Zephyr. "Boreas told me that you plan on getting rid of Ethelinda and Kendrick. Is that true? I wanna help! Let me help! I can help!"

"Oh," said Jareth. "You're willing to betray your mistress?"

Zephyr lowered his eyes again and when he looked back up, there was a mature seriousness in his eyes that didn't seem to belong on his young face. "If it means having a nice master that will be nice to us, then yes, I will help you."

Jareth smiled and gestured Zephyr to follow him. The two walked together in silence for awhile until they came upon a circled area that was clear of hedges. Sitting in a stone chair in the center of the circle was a frozen figure. Jareth drew in nearer to see who it was.

It was the Wise Man. He had his head leaning on his hand and his eyes were closed. His talking hat was facing downwards, its eyes also closed. He must have fallen asleep when the frost had consumed him, his hat having failed to wake him up in time. Jareth stared at the frozen Wise Man and felt his hatred burn again.

"Boreas had no choice," said Zephyr, staring sadly at the Wise Man. "He cannot deny a direct order from our mistress, even if he does hate her."

"It won't be Boreas who pays for this," said Jareth, his voice cold as the surrounding snow. "Come on."

He went over to one end of the circle and began rummaging through the snow, looking for something on the ground. He turned over to Zephyr. "Can't you melt this wretched ice?" he asked.

"You won't want me to do that," said Zephyr. "Not without seriously attracting Ethelinda and Kendrick's attention."

Jareth grumbled and continued to dig in the snow. Before long he found what he was looking for. A spiral carved into the stone ground of the circle. He gestured for Zephyr to follow him as he stepped into the spiral and sank into the ground as if going down a flight of stairs. Zephyr followed and he too sank into the ground. Once below the surface, it could be seen that they were indeed walking down a spiral flight of stone steps that lead down to the tunnels. As they reached the bottom and began to walk down the long dark corridor that was one of the tunnels, voices echoed eerily around them.

"**Don't go on.**"

"**Go back, while you still can.**"

"**This is not the way!**"

"**Take heed and go no further.**"

"**Beware. Beware.**"

"**Soon it will be too late.**"

"**Beware, for the path you will take will lead to certain destruction.**"

Zephyr cried out in fear and grabbed the back of Jareth's coat. "My lord Jareth, what are those voices!? They're scary!"

"Don't pay them any attention," said Jareth, tugging his coat out of Zephyr's clutching hands. "It's just the False Alarms. If they are still working, then that means I was right in thinking that the ice hadn't managed to reach this place. The cold certainly has."

They walked on in the dark tunnels, the False Alarms still shouting warnings at them as they went. Zephyr didn't like the dark and the noises. He kept close to Jareth and continued to grab at Jareth's coat whenever the False Alarms spoke their sinister warnings.

Suddenly, Jareth stopped and Zephyr almost walked right into him.

"What's wrong?" asked Zephyr.

Jareth shook his head. He had seen them. Many jewel bright eyes were leering at him from the shadows of the tunnel. The moment he turned to look at them, they'd blink and disappear into the darkness. Jareth felt relieved. They'd managed to survive. Or at least most of them did. Now all they needed was proof of who he was. He walked over to where he knew some of them were hiding. Then, without warning, he reached out and grabbed one of them and pulled them close.

The little goblin looked confused, but angry. It gnashed its teeth and looked ready to fight for its life, but Jareth only grinned at it.

"You remind me of the babe," he said.

"What babe?" asked the goblin.

"The babe with the power," replied Jareth.

"What power?" asked another goblin, that stepped out of the shadows.

"Power of voodoo."

"Who do?"

"You do."

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe," said Jareth, tossing the goblin into the air.

It landed on the ground with a thud. He wasn't worried. Goblins, he knew, were practically made of rubber and they were almost never harmed when thrown or kicked or hit. Indeed, they seemed to like it most of the time. The little goblin raised itself up off the ground almost as soon as he'd hit it and then slowly raised his eyes up to Jareth's face as if unable to believe what it was seeing.

"Your Highness?" it asked, almost awestruck.

Jareth flashed it a half smile and nodded once.

There was instant uproar. The goblins flung themselves out from the shadows and gathered around their king, bombarding him with questions and comments.

"Where've you been, Boss?"

"It's been getting cold down here."

"We thought we'd lost you, Highness."

"Majesty, we were told you were dead."

"It has been most dull without you, Sir, most dull."

"Where've you been?"

"Did you know there is some loser sitting in your throne, calling himself king?"

"Did you get a haircut?"

"Silence," cried Jareth, and the goblins quieted at once. "Indeed, I have been gone for some time now, but it was time spent well. During my time away from you all, I have lost my powers. But fear not, for I am about to reenter my castle and reclaim my title as king and you all shall be able to return to your city. The ice shall melt and all shall be as it once was."

The goblins cheered and roared with delight at the words of their king. They all began talking again. More feverishly and more excited than before.

"We're going back!"

"The city will be ours again."

"I can't wait!"

"The ice is gonna melt? Oh boy!"

"Those losers won't stand a chance."

"Yee haw! Let's get going!"

"Shut up," snapped Jareth, and they desisted. "Now, I have a plan that I am about to put into action. First, I am going to enter the castle on my own and restore my powers to how they once were. Once that is accomplished, I will need you all to enter the castle and help me reclaim it."

"How will we know when you are ready for us to come, Highness?" asked a goblin from under a wide, horned helmet.

"I shall send you a signal," said Jareth. "Search the sky for the Northern Lights. Once you see them, then you will know that it is time and my powers have been returned."

"Yessir!" cried the goblins enthusiastically.

"Good," said Jareth. "Now, prepare anything you have that you can battle with. It could get ugly once you enter the castle, or even the city. And defrost the Cleaners as best you can. We will need them."

The goblins cheered and laughed nastily at this.

"Quiet!"

They quieted.

Zephyr giggled as he watched Jareth bossing the goblins around. _This could work,_ he thought, smiling.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus watched as Jareth gave instructions to the goblins. Rather than joining the fray, they stayed out of sight. Jareth hadn't been very pleased with them when the storm had hit and they didn't know how he'd feel to meet them now.

"Ha!" said Didymus. "See? I told you it was his Majesty."

"King," growled Ludo. "King . . . strange."

"I'll say," said Hoggle. "He doesn't look like himself at all. His hair is all short and he looks . . . different. Where's he been all these years if not lying dead in the castle like we thought he was?"

"Perhaps we should ask?" said Didymus.

"Go over there?" said Hoggle, looking dumbfounded. "No way! Jareth don't like me, remember? He'll flatten us."

Didymus thought for a moment. "If his Majesty is, indeed, here then milady must be as well. Come, let us seek her out."

"Yeah, let's do that," said Hoggle. "I'd much rather see Sarah than Jareth any day."

"Ludo want Sawah," said Ludo, nodding his large head.

They sneaked away from the goblins and back into the oubliette where they'd been hiding for the last three years. Using Ludo's height to their advantage, they opened the hole and climbed into the Shaft of Hands.

There was a loud, scraping noise all throughout the Shaft. The Helping Hands were all rubbing themselves together to keep themselves from freezing over. The three creatures climbed up into the Shaft and the Hands stopped rubbing themselves together so as to pick the creatures up.

"Well then," said the Hands, forming into a face. "Where might you be going?"

"Up for a bit of fresh air?" said another face.

"Or back down for shelter from the cold?" asked yet another face.

"UP!" said Hoggle, irritably. He didn't like the hands very much. He found them to be irritating at least. "We wanna go up."

"They chose up!" cried a face.

"They chose up?" giggled another face. "Yay!"

The hands held themselves up and out flat so the creatures could climb up them like a ladder. Finally, they reached the very top of the passage and the Shaft of Hands closed behind them.

"Brrr!" complained Hoggle. "I'll admit it's a wee bit warmer than before but _it's still freezing!_"

"Be bold, Sir Hoggle," said Didymus, waving his staff proudly. "No snow, nor ice, nor freezing wind can dampen the hearts of us noble men! Come Ambrosius, let us press onward through the cold! We must find Our Lady Sarah at all costs."

But the three friends had hardly walked three steps when a figure appeared behind them. He reached out and tapped Hoggle on the shoulder. The dwarf jumped about three feet in the air and yelped and grabbed onto Ludo's arm, trembling.

"Excuse me? Did you just say you were Sarah's friends?"

The three creatures turned around to see Boreas eyeing them with curiosity.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Don't be shy now, my little lamb, sit down."

Sarah stiffened in distrust and indignation as Kendrick beckoned her to sit in a chair next to the frozen throne that had once been the Goblin King's. The chair was made completely out of ice and looked most uncomfortable.

"Um, I think I'll stand, thank you," said Sarah, coolly.

Kendrick's watery eyes darkened. "Come now," he said. "You're being given treatment from the King of the Labyrinth himself, my dear. The niceties must be observed. Sit down here, next to me."

"I'd really rather stand," said Sarah, more forcefully.

"SIT DOWN!" bellowed Kendrick, slamming his foot on the ground in anger. Sarah gasped and stepped back from him, but she still refused to sit. Kendrick's eyes suddenly widened and he said in a much softer voice. "Or, you may stand if you like, my dear."

Sarah gaped at him. Kendrick turned his back to her and began to mumble under his breath and pound his palm into his forehead.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he grumbled furiously, hitting himself with every word. "The first girl to come here in over three years shows up and you go and make a right fool of yourself! Mother told you to be considerate to women and then you go bossing her around? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now I've got this one opportunity to impress this pretty girl with all my power and I go and screw it up! Kendrick, you stupid, stupid, STUPID!"

Sarah, who was considerate enough to keep her thoughts inside her own head rather than voicing them out loud, was feeling a bit panicky. _This guy is crazy,_ she thought. _I'm trapped in the castle beyond the Goblin City with this weirdo who talks to himself. Where is Boreas? How could he ditch me like this?_

Kendrick seemed to recover himself. He turned back to Sarah, smiling. "I'm sorry to hear that you were wished away here," he said. "Normally, I don't answer the calls of Abovegrounders. Strange that Boreas seemed to feel it his duty to take you away."

Sarah thought quickly than said, "Well, naturally he'd come and take me here," she said. "It was wished that I would be carried away by the North Wind."

"Really?" said Kendrick, suspiciously. "Who would make such a wish?"

"My little brother," Sarah said, thinking of the first person that popped into her head. "He has such a wild imagination."

"Why would your brother wish you away?" Kendrick asked.

"Because," Sarah paused for a moment. "I was making him eat his vegetables. He hates them so."

Kendrick stared at her for a moment, the let out a bellowing laugh that didn't seem to fit him. "Oh ho! Oh, yes. I would have done the same. Vegetables are most disgusting, don't you find? Oh ho ho ho!"

"Yes," said Sarah, giggling along, feebly. "Still, they are nutritious. I was just doing as I was told to by . . . my stepmother and well . . . he threw a bit of a tantrum and wished me away."

"Oh ho ho ho!" said Kendrick again. "That sounds like a mighty good lad. He'll grow to be a mighty man, some day. Like me!" he added, brightly.

Sarah grinned untruthfully. "Right," she said. "Mighty King of the Labyrinth, I am most curious. I thought it was the Goblin King who ruled here."

"The Goblin King?" asked Kendrick, laughing again. "Oh ho! Dear girl, the Goblin King is my trophy! His frozen corpse rests even now in his old bedchambers. I do like to gaze at it from time to time. A man's enemy, frozen forever in never-melting ice. It might strike one as art, I suppose."

Sarah's stomach churned in disgust, but she kept her smile in place. She may have been enemies with the Goblin King too, but she would never, ever, keep around his body just so she could stare at it and gloat. She wondered how long she could be able to bear this.

Kendrick smiled at the pretty girl before him. "What was your name again, dear girl?" he asked.

Sarah hesitated. "Susan," she said, with false brightness.

_Susan_, thought Kendrick, savoring the sound of her name. _Lovely. At last, I will have the one thing the Goblin King never secured. A queen. I shall woo this girl and make her fall in love with me and then we shall rule these lands together as King and Queen. Oh, with Mother along side us. Oh, I just can't wait to show Mother the prize that I have found._

**Ying-Fa: Creepy, ain't he? Alright, leave me those fat reviews and I'll be back soon. I've been the lone woman at my household for the past week, so I've been busy. But I'll have the next chapter back here for you before long. Review and tell me what you think.**


	14. Return to Me

**Ying-Fa: Hello, there! Back again with the next chapter. Please continue to regard me kindly. Okay, so I just saw The Dark Knight (it was AWESOME) and so watching Heath Ledger as the Joker put me in a really kinda dark mood, which is what mostly inspired me to write this next sequence. So, Kendrick is creepy . . . get a load of his mother. That's all I'm saying.**

Ethelinda walked around the frigid room. She always loved the cold. Crisp, clear, fraught with death, winter was her favorite season. This was one of the reasons she relied on Boreas, rather than his brothers, the most. Ethelinda smiled as she circled around the room, over and over again. Her eyes were fixed on the figure before her.

"You know that the Four Winds each had their corresponding direction and season, right?" she said. "There's Boreas, the North Wind and Winter Frost, then Eurus, the East Wind and Summer Heat, after that is Notus, the South Wind and Autumn Fog, and lastly Zephyr, the West Wind and Spring Breeze. But you know that, don't you?"

Ethelinda drew closer to the frozen figure of the Goblin King. He stood in the center of the room, his head turned upward as he had tried to escape the cold that had consumed him. The ice covering him was several inches thick, but you could still see him in there, his closed and mouth pulled down in a grimace of pain and cold.

"I always treasured Boreas so much more than his brothers," said Ethelinda, walking around and around the frozen king. "The power of cold, the very season of death, is at my fingertips. Can you imagine the satisfaction? One of the reasons I targeted Amaranth. She was quite a pretty beast, you know? I was quite fond of her. It was a shame she had to go. But it was not such a shame, nowhere near as much a shame, as you."

She put her fingers on the ice over Goblin King's chest. "I had a husband once, you know. Mm-hm. He was Kendrick's father and nowhere near as precious. I tolerated him because of his power. He was quite skilled in the arts of war. Such a talented fighter, he was. Kendrick has inherited his skill. Until one day, he died. With him dead, the village where we lived evicted us. Nobody wanted us because I was accused, not only of practicing dark magic, but also with murdering my husband. Well, that was just plain rude of them, wasn't it?

"So, after burning that village down, my son and I set out. We tried to find somewhere new to call home. But word of the accusations against us spread across the Underground like wildfire. We were turned away, seeing not a friendly face anywhere. Then one day, as we traveled, we came across this place. The Labyrinth. I stared at it in awe. It is really quite beautiful. But you know that. You created this place. It's not just a maze, but a fortress. A well-supplied, neigh-impregnable fortress that I knew my son was destined to be king of."

Ethelinda stared hard into the frozen king's face, longing in her eyes. "But everyone knew that the Labyrinth is ruled over by a Fae king of great power. So, I devised a plan. If I offered my hand to the Goblin King, I would give him a queen and an heir all in one package. It was the perfect idea. So, I summoned the king, and there you were," she sighed and leaned against him. "You and you couldn't have pleased me more. Ah, Jareth, do you realize just how beautiful you really are? All that power, all that glory, all belonging to one man. Oh, you made my last husband look like a joke. You're power is unmatched and your beauty unrivaled.

"In that moment, I prayed to the Darkness that you would take me as your own. I wanted, needed to have you. I prostrated myself before you, begging you to accept me as your queen and my son as your heir. Ah, I remember your answer so well, my dear Jareth."

She turned around and looked back into his frozen face. "You laughed. You stared at me with distain and you laughed at my proposal. 'What would I want with a witch and her spoiled brat?' you asked of me. You believed those foul rumors about us. Alright, they might have been true, but you didn't even ask me about it. You believed all you heard about us. I told you that you would regret turning us away, didn't I? But you simply dismissed me again, returning to your castle and leaving me scorned. But I'm not angry. Oh, no. I understand now. You were already in love with that human brat at the time, weren't you? Oh, my poor Jareth. Your love was just as hopeless as mine, wasn't it? Oh, you poor, poor dear."

Ethelinda nuzzled the ice over the Goblin King's chest, finding the cold to be endearing. "So then, we traveled onward until we came across the sorceress Amaranth, the Lady of the Winds. Oh, she was the perfect opportunity for me. She was my best chance at getting everything I wanted. A kingdom for my son to rule over and power beyond my wildest dreams for me. I entered her home as Amaranth's sick nurse and earned her trust. After that, she made a prophesy about the death of my son and I. Well, I couldn't keep her around after that. So, as she slept peacefully, I took a knife I'd been using to chop herbs and, well, you know . . ." she laughed playfully at the memory. "The look on her face! You should have seen it, my love. Mouth open like that as if to ask me 'why'. Ah, she really was a naïve little fool.

"The Winds were devastated when they rushed to their old mistress's side and saw her dead and gone. They wept for her, can you believe it? They wept for such a weak little thing like her. Well, since I took the life of their old master, I was now in control of them. They had no choice but to obey. Now, I had the power of the four seasons at my disposal. The only way they can escape me is by either taking my life, which they cannot, or becoming human, which is impossible without the heart of an Abovegrounder. So, with them now at my side, I sent Boreas out to the Labyrinth and cast his wintry spell upon you. And here you are, my darling Jareth. My son's trophy. My idol. My captive. Forever."

Ethelinda smiled and pressed her lips over the ice that covered the grimace of the Goblin King. How she loved having him as her prisoner. Her toy. He could not scorn her now. He belonged to her now. Completely.

Her musings were disrupted by a knock on the door. "What?" she barked, irritably.

The door opened, its ice-covered hinges cracking and creaking as it swung forward. Before her was Eurus, the East Wind and Summer Heat. He was her least favorite of all the seasons. Not only was the wind he created unbearably hot and bothersome, but he also had a very bad temper and attitude. The only good thing about him was that he was appealing to the eyes. He had flaming red hair, fierce golden eyes, and skin like white gold. He wore a golden body suite that glittered and sparkled, much like Jareth's clothes did, and he had a powerful, demanding presence.

"Mistress," he said as if from a great amount of effort. "Your son the _King_ wishes a word with you."

"Oh, does he?" said Ethelinda, turning her attention back to the frozen king. "What does he need from his dear mama?"

"He says he wants to show you something," said Eurus, irritably. "I'm just going out on a whim and saying that it is probably got something to do with the girl he's drooling over in the throne room."

"Girl? What girl?"

"How should I know?" snapped Eurus. "I just walked in and he starts barking orders at me and Notus."

"Temper your temper, Eurus," said Ethelinda in a warning tone. "You are already the least important of the Winds and I do not call for you often. Keep with this attitude and I will have no choice but to do you harm. Perhaps a few decades locked up in the oubliettes will cool you down."

Eurus glared angrily at her and stormed out of the room. Ethelinda stared after him smugly before turning back to the figure. "My baby boy needs me, darling," she said, sweetly. "I'd better go see what this is all about. I'd tell you to wait here for me to return but . . . tee hee . . . I don't think you'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

She kissed the frozen figure again and swept out of the room, closing the door behind her. She lifted the skirts of her violet gown daintily and made her way to the throne room, humming to herself.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah stared around feeling antsy and a little scared about the situation she was currently in. Kendrick was sitting in the Goblin King's old throne, looking rather foolish. She was standing behind him and next to her was a gaunt, wet looking man in a wool robe staring morosely out the nearest window.

"Mother will be here any minute," said Kendrick, happily. "You're going to like her, Susan my dear. She's quite a charming woman by nature."

"I . . . I can't wait," she said, with false brightness.

In an undertone, the man next to her whispered, "You don't sound so enthusiastic."

"I'm not," Sarah admitted as quietly as she could.

"I see," said the man. "Yeah. I wouldn't be either. My name is Notus, by the way. I'm the South Wind."

"Oh," said Sarah, looking at him with renewed respect. "You're Boreas's brother?"

"Yup," said Notus, dully. "I gotta admit . . . you kinda remind me of someone."

"I do?"

"Yep," said Notus. "But, don't mind me. It's probably just my head. I'm the Autumn Fog, you see. So I'm always rather in . . . a fog."

"Hm," said Sarah, a little confused.

"Mother!" cried Kendrick, jumping up as his mother entered the room. She glanced around and noticed Sarah.

"Kendrick, my dear, what is that creature standing next to Notus?" she asked as if this comment might not hurt Sarah's feelings in any way.

"An Abovegrounder, mother," said Kendrick. "She was wished down here."

"Wished?" said Ethelinda, looking confused. "Sweetheart, I thought I told you not to answer the silly calls of Abovegrounders. It didn't work out so well for the last Lord of the Labyrinth, now did it?"

"It was not I who answered the call, mother," said Kendrick. "It was wished that the North Wind would whisk her away. Boreas is to blame for her being here, not I."

"Boreas, hm?" said Ethelinda, thoughtfully. "I'll deal with him later." She walked over to Sarah and started eyeing her critically then said in a loud, slow tone as if she was talking to someone foreign. "You . . . there! Do . . . you . . . understand . . . me?"

Sarah held back a scowl. "Perfectly, thank you."

"How long have you been alive, Abovegrounder?" Ethelinda asked, not at all abashed.

Sarah, taken slightly aback, said, "Um, twenty-tree years."

"Hm," said Ethelinda. She started walking around Sarah, plucking at her hair and clothes and pinching her arms and cheeks purposefully. Then she turned back to her son. "She's a bit skinny but she's got nice features. What exactly were your plans for this girl, dear son of mine?"

Kendrick grinned nastily at Sarah. "I was thinking of taking her as my queen."

Both Sarah and Ethelinda looked shocked. "Really?" said Ethelinda, giving Sarah another quick look.

"Yes," said Kendrick, proudly. "Do you not find her lovely, mother?"

Ethelinda shrugged. "She's nice enough," she said, again oblivious as to how Sarah might react to such a comment. "Are you sure you can handle a queen, my dear? It is a great responsibility, you know? You'll have to care for her, give her nice clothes, and keep her well fed . . ."

They were talking as if Kendrick was about to adopt Sarah as a pet. She was starting to hate this. She just wanted to find Jared and go back while they still could. Where was he? Had this been Boreas's plan? To trick her into becoming Kendrick's arm candy?

"You don't look very pleased by all this," Notus whispered in her ear.

"I'm not," Sarah hissed back.

"Whatever they say, just go along with it," said Notus. "Lie through your teeth if you have to. Don't let Ethelinda hear you criticize her son, or she'll flay you alive."

Sarah stared at him. He nodded insistently, no longer daring to speak for fear of being overheard.

"What is your name, Abovegrounder?" Ethelinda asked abruptly. Sarah's attention snapped right back to her in an instant.

"Oh, um," she froze. She'd completely forgotten the fake name she'd given them. Thankfully, Kendrick came to the rescue.

"Forgive her, mother," he said. "She's bashful. Her name is Susan."

"Susan, hm?" said Ethelinda, skeptically. "Alright then, Susan. What do you think of my son?"

"Um, excuse me?"

"What do you think of my son?" Ethelinda repeated, patiently. "It is clear that he would like you to be his queen, how do you feel on the matter?"

Sarah straightened up a bit, baring in mind the comment Notus had told her about Ethelinda flaying her alive if she was rude about her son. "I, um, I find him to be a powerful and intimidating person, madam. I would find it a great privilege to be his queen."

"See?" said Kendrick as if this settled the matter. "She's perfect."

"I daresay she is," said Ethelinda. "Well, come now, Susan. Let us get you into a proper gown. Those clothes you're wearing will not do. You look like a man in those breeches and that coat."

Sarah ignored the jab at her clothes. She let Ethelinda take hold of her arm and pull her away to get her fitted into new clothes. _Jared,_ the thought desperately. _Where are you? I have to find you. Help me._

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jareth sat there in silence as he heard Ethelinda drag Sarah away from the throne room. He and Zephyr were hiding in a secret passage that he'd built long ago for one such an emergency. The tunnel lead them right inside the walls of the throne room and he'd heard the entire conversation.

Sarah. Why was she here? How did she get here? How did she make it to the castle before he did? What was more, Kendrick wanted to make her his queen? Stupid. Absolutely stupid. He wasn't deaf. He'd heard the reluctance in Sarah's voice and knew she was only saying those things to keep herself out of trouble. A good decision. But she wouldn't hang around. Once he got his power and defeated these idiots, he'd send her straight back home. It's where she'll want to go, once she sees that her precious Jared is gone.

"My lord," whispered Zephyr. "We must hurry. Neither Ethelinda nor Kendrick are in your bedchambers right now. Let's get there quickly and restore your strength."

"Yes," said Jareth, pulling himself out of a daze. "Let's go."

The continued down the tunnel which took them straight into the Escher room. Together they hurried along the frigid stairways, heading for Jareth's chambers. They found the door to the room, but it was almost frozen shut.

"If I may," said Zephyr. He pressed his delicate hands onto the door and it began to thaw at once. "There, now you can go in and . . ."

"ZEPHYR!"

The two companions jumped. Ethelinda was calling for Zephyr from another room, but was thankfully nowhere in sight.

"I need to go see what she wants," said Zephyr, sound panicked. "Go. Restore your powers. Become the Goblin King again and help us. I must go now."

"Yes, I know," said Jareth. "I shall see that you and your brothers are properly rewarded for all you've done for me. I'll see you soon, Zephyr."

"Goodbye, my lord Jareth."

"ZEPHYR!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" cried Zephyr, and he hurried off to find Ethelinda.

Jareth slipped into his old room and closed the door. And there it was. What was left of his powers. He walked forward, staring at it. He remembered being consumed by the ice, three years ago. The pain he'd felt as it took over. Trying to finish the spell that would take him to the Aboveground, leaving his powers and memories behind. Crying out just before the ice had taken him.

_"Sar-!"_

Jareth smiled sadly. This was the end of his ever being with Sarah. She would never want to be with him again. It depressed him more than he could say. He loved her. He still loved her no matter what she did to him. It had only taken him a day or so to forgive her for denying him before, but that hadn't stopped him from grieving for her so deeply that he couldn't stop the attack on his Labyrinth that had started this whole mess. He wondered how she'd react to seeing him again. Most likely she'd cry over the knowledge that her darling Jared was gone forever. Or, perhaps, she'd be angry enough to attack him for stealing him away from her.

He walked closer to the frozen figure again and smiled grimly. "I've made my choice," he said. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted after all. But my world needs me. I'm so sorry. Goodbye, Sarah."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"So, let me get this straight," said Hoggle as he, Ludo, Didymus, and Boreas made their way to the castle. "Jareth sent half of himself to the Aboveground and now he's back to restore his power."

"Yes," said Boreas. "And your friend was thrown right back in the middle of all of this. She'll need our help once we get inside. Oh, I hope Kendrick hasn't done anything rash."

"Rash?" squawked Didymus. "Of what speaketh thou?"

"Well, I don't think Kendrick will know what to do with an Abovegrounder," said Boreas. "I just hope he doesn't mistake her for food or something like . . ."

"Oh!" cried Ludo, stopping suddenly. "Pretty!"

"What is?" asked Hoggle, but he quickly saw the answer. Shimmering rainbow lights were flickering through the sky, shining brightly over the entire Labyrinth. Far away, they could hear triumphant battle cries of goblins.

"Northern Lights," said Boreas.

"My brethren!" cried Didymus. "Those lights! They can only mean one thing. The hope of the Labyrinth is restored at long last."

"Really?" asked Hoggle. "But . . . but that means . . ."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"I told you not to play around in the Labyrinth," shrieked Ethelinda, slapping Zephyr across the face again and again. "Didn't I? Didn't I?"

Kendrick was watching his mother striking Zephyr, roaring with laughter. Sarah, who was wearing a dress of ivory and silver, squealed in protest.

"Stop it!" she cried. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

"I'm sick of you making the Labyrinth melt," screamed Ethelinda. "You prance about like as if you are touched in the head and . . ."

"I . . . I'm . . . so . . . sorry," wailed Zephyr, trying to escape her clutches. "I . . . I . . . I won't . . . I won't . . ."

"I _know_ you won't," snapped Ethelinda. "You vile little beast! Be grateful I don't cut you open just like your last mistress, you little . . ."

"Mother!" cried Kendrick, pausing in his laughter to look out the window. "Mother! Look!"

Ethelinda stopped beating Zephyr and went over to the window with Sarah hot on her heels. "What on earth are those?" she snapped. "What are they doing in the Labyrinth? What . . . OH!"

She looked out at the Labyrinth. The ice was melting faster than her eyes could believe. Huge chunks of it fell heavily off the walls and the grounds were flooded with the resulting water.

"This is not Zephyr's doing," Ethelinda said in a horrified voice. "This can only mean . . ."

"He's back."

Ethelinda and Kendrick looked around. Sarah had fallen to her knees, her eyes filling with tears as she looked out at the Northern Lights. "I was too late," she sobbed. "He's back. The Goblin King has returned."

**Ying-Fa: He's baaaaaaack! There you have it. Jareth has now returned. Please, tell me what it is that is going on in your little noggin.**


	15. Love Me

**Ying-Fa: I am very pleased to know that you are enjoying this story. I've had several complaints about Sarah's behavior, but I like to think of it as sweet revenge for all of those who wrote very frustrating Sarahs and left me waiting for more chapters feeling angry and worried that she was going to ditch Jareth! (It happened once too!) Well, with that off my chest, here is the next chapter. What will my Sarah do? Read and find out.**

Ah, it was so good to be back. Jareth raised his hands and examined them. They were just as he remembered. Strong, gloved and powerful, they were waiting for whatever it was he told them to do. He ran them over his body. He may be free from the ice, but he was still cold. He ran his hands over his arms, torso, neck, and face. Everything he touched warmed as they went, waking from the three years slumber they'd been brutally put through. Jareth flexed his legs, walking on them for the first time in years.

Jareth stretched out his hand again and this time a beautiful, crystalline ball appeared in his palm. He smiled triumphantly. He was back. He was free at long last. He was whole again and his body and powers were as intact as they ever could have been.

And now, to business.

First, there was Ethelinda and Kendrick. It was high time those two learned what it meant to deal with the Goblin King, the true Lord of the Labyrinth. He'd finish them and make them pay for the suffering he'd endured. He would have his vengeance upon them and rip away all of their glory just as his had been.

Next were the Four Winds. With their mistress gone, they would need someone to govern them. It was proved long ago that they couldn't be allowed to roam free. Amaranth herself had proved this point when she gave them corporeal forms. Personally, Jareth had no real opinion of them. He didn't really want to be their master, but someone needed to do the job. Also, they had been helpful in returning him to his former self. Perhaps he would send them away to a new master. He'd make sure that it was a good master who treated them kindly and used their powers fairly and justly. It was the best he could do for them.

Then there was Sarah. What would she say when she saw him? She would be most upset to discover, fully and completely, that her Jared had never really existed. She had made it clear long ago that she had no love for his true self, for the Goblin King, despite his deep love for her. He'd have no choice. He'd have to send her back to the Aboveground. He hoped she'd go without argument. Her family was up there and she had chances for a better life. Perhaps, in time, she'd forget all about Jared and move on. Yes, that would be best for her. He had no reason or right to keep her here and, indeed, she'd probably demand to be sent back the instant she learned that there was no way her Jared could come back to her. That was his only option. No other way.

Hate unlike anything he'd ever felt burned deep into his chest. If it hadn't been for that infernal witch and her spoiled idiot, he wouldn't have to be in this dilemma. He'd been border lining on moving on and forgetting Sarah when they'd attacked. Then he'd had no choice but to escape to the Aboveground and had become entangled with her once again. It shouldn't have been like this. He shouldn't have had to go through the pain of breaking his heart all over again for them.

The hate within him making him stronger, he walked out of the room that had been his prison for the past three years, his mind set and his powers ready. Tonight, the wrongs done to him would be righted and paid for in blood.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah was completely lost. She didn't have a clue as to what she was supposed to do now. She'd come here in the hopes of stopping Jared from turning back into the Goblin King and she'd failed. She knew she'd failed the instant she saw the Northern Lights. She had no idea how she knew this, but the knowledge was crystal clear in her mind. She knew he was back. She knew she had failed. Ethelinda and Kendrick had fled from the room once they saw the Northern Lights, leaving Sarah behind. They hardly seemed to notice her reaction. They just took off and left her there.

"Why so sad, pretty girl?"

Sarah lifted her head and stared at the little boy that Ethelinda had been beating earlier. She hadn't caught the whole conversation, but she gathered that he'd somehow made the ice melt around the Labyrinth when he went out to play there.

"A-are you okay?" Sarah asked, noticing the burning finger marks Ethelinda had left all over the boy's face.

"It's fine," he said, touching his cheek easily. "But you're the one who is crying. What's wrong? Is there anything I can do? I may not be as powerful as my brothers, but I'm still capable of a lot of stuff."

"Brothers?" said Sarah. "Oh, you're one of the winds, aren't you? Just like Boreas and Notus, right?"

"You know my brothers!" he said. "Yes, I'm the West Wind, Zephyr."

"Zephyr?"

"Yes," said Zephyr, reaching forward to brush a tear away from Sarah's cheek. "Now, please tell me what is wrong. I want to help."

"I'm sorry," said Sarah, the hopelessness washing over her again. "There isn't anything you can do. I . . . I just lost someone very important to me. I'm just upset. I'm sorry."

Zephyr sat down next to her, glanced around to make sure that Ethelinda and Kendrick where nowhere to be seen then spoke softly in her ear. "It's okay. I bet you that you haven't lost him, you've just found him all over again," he lowered his gaze. "He still loves you very much, you know. It hurts his feelings very much to see you act this way, he loves you so very dearly."

Sarah's eyes snapped back to him. "What? How . . . you . . . ?"

Zephyr smiled. "You're her, aren't you? You're Sarah? Jareth's Sarah?"

"How could you . . ?"

"My season is spring, Sarah," said Zephyr. "I notice things about love and happiness that most people don't. And I notice that he is very much in love with you. But you, I don't understand. You are in love and yet your heart seems broken over nothing."

"It isn't broken over nothing," snapped Sarah. "Jared's gone! It's over."

"Jared? Was that Jareth's human name? Sarah, did it ever occur to you that Jared and Jareth are the same person."

"No they're not," said Sarah. "Jared is kind and honest and he's good to me and he's never wronged me. He's considerate and strong. The . . . the Goblin King isn't like that. He's sneaky and cunning. He's tricky and full of deceit. He stole my brother and made me run the Labyrinth and is cruel. He even said so. Don't tell me that they are the same person. They're totally not the same."

"Are you sure?" said Zephyr, softly. "Did you not want your brother taken away?"

"What? Well, I may have said it but I didn't mean it," Sarah insisted.

"And you always wished you could have an adventure, like running the Labyrinth, didn't you?" Zephyr asked.

"Well, yes but . . ."

"Listen, Sarah," said Zephyr, calmly. "I don't know him very well myself, but I know Jareth by reputation. Yes, he is tricky, but he must be if he is dealing with those who enter the Labyrinth. It is a protective fortress as well as a goal. If word gets out that it has been beaten, then it is no longer as safe. Also, he's not deceitful. Tell me, has he ever looked you in the face and lied about anything."

Sarah thought. "Well . . . no, but . . ."

"Then that would make him honest, wouldn't it?" said Zephyr, now looking at Sarah with wide eyes. "He gave you your brother back and let you leave without any kind of harm, didn't he? So that would make him kind and considerate, wouldn't it? Wasn't he good to you by giving you what you wished for? Wasn't he strong in trying everything he could to defend the Labyrinth and those who live there? Isn't all the things he's done just a testament of how much you mean to him?"

Sarah thought, memories spilling into her head. It was true. She already knew that to be true. She had remembered that the Goblin King loved her when she'd turned him down eight years ago. But how could she love him back? After everything he did, she was just supposed to forget it all?

But then there was Jared. He had been real. She had grown to love him during their brief time in the Aboveground. Would he have disappeared, as she thought he would? Would everything he was be gone now? But . . . just now . . . with everything Zephyr had told her . . .

Sarah jumped to her feet. "I have to see him," she concluded. "I have to go and see him. I just need to see him one more time. Then. Then, I'll know."

Zephyr smiled up at her. "Of course you will. But hurry, and don't let Ethelinda or Kendrick catch you."

Sarah tore out of the room as fast as the white silk dress that Ethelinda gave her would allow. Zephyr watched her go with a look of pride on her face.

"Little brother, was that the right choice?"

Zephyr turned to see his other two brothers, Eurus and Notus, standing behind him. "Yes, brothers," he said, smiling. "Without her, Jareth really is all those nasty things she accused him of being. But he's different when she's a part of things. He loves her, I can tell. Because of that, he's become all of those nice things she said he was. Jareth has nice things about him and bad things, just like everybody does."

"Even if she finds him and realizes that she loves him back, that won't stop him from killing Ethelinda and Kendrick," said Notus. "What will become of us without them?"

"We'll have to get a new master, I suppose," said Zephyr, shrugging.

"No!" snapped Eurus. "I don't want a new master."

"Eurus, we have no choice," said Notus. "We need someone to govern over us. We can't just go running wild again. Do you want all of the work Amaranth did for us to be for nothing?"

"No," admitted Eurus. "But Amaranth is the only one I'll accept as my master. I don't want anyone else. I'd rather be human than serve another master. Is this how things are going to be? Serving master after master, being thrust from one person to another for all eternity? I can't take it! I'd rather be human and die as a mortal than live like this."

"But if our new master is kind and caring as Amaranth was," said Zephyr, calmly. "Then we might be happy again."

"You're wrong," hissed Eurus. "Ethelinda has proved that Amaranth was the only one who would treat us with care, with kindness. Everyone else would neglect us! Abuse our power! I won't take it any longer!"

"But doesn't she remind you of her?" Notus asked, slowly. "Sarah. Doesn't she look, just a tiny bit, like Amaranth?"

"What?!" said Eurus, offended. "No she doesn't."

"You're right, Notus," said Zephyr. "Amaranth may have had silver eyes, but they both have long, pretty black hair. And Sarah is very kind and gentle. I'd like her to be our master."

"You're both traitors!" cried Eurus, and he vanished.

Notus and Zephyr sighed. "He'll get over it," said Notus. "He always does. Still, I hope Lady Sarah makes the right choice . . ."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"We gotta get outta here! We gotta get outta here! We gotta hurry! We gotta be quick! We can't wait around here!"

Kendrick was sprinting all around his chambers throwing whatever he could into traveling bags while his mother stood in the corner of the room, staring off and looking deep in thought.

"What have I got!?" cried Kendrick, rummaging through his things as he packed them hurriedly. "My crown, the gold, the jewels, the silks, the furs, the swords, the knives, the tomes, the charts, the poisons, my teddy, and . . . what about this picture, Mother? Didn't you say you didn't like how you looked in it? Will we need that? Oh, pack it anyway. We gotta hurry, we gotta hurry!"

"Hurry?" said Ethelinda, snapping out of her daze. "Hurry? Why must we hurry, my son?"

"Why?!" Kendrick looked at his mother as if she were mad. "Mother, _Jareth_ has returned! Once he finds us, he'll butcher us like cattle! We must escape while we still have the chance!"

"Darling, you are so panicky," said Ethelinda, reaching over to stroke her son's hair, soothingly. "Mommy won't let anything happen to you."

"But, but, but . . . !"

"Do you not have faith in you mother's abilities?" asked Ethelinda. "It was I that defeated him before. What is there stopping me from doing so again?"

"Again? But! But Mother . . ."

"No 'buts', my child," said Ethelinda. "We are _not_ going to forfeit our Labyrinth to Jareth. We earned it from him and now we must fight to keep it. For goodness sake, my dear, do you not like being a king?"

Kendrick thought for a moment. "You're right," he said, slowly. "Yes. Yes, you're right. Of course you are right. _I_ am the King of the Labyrinth. _I_ am the true ruler here! No washed up fool like Jareth is going to stop us from having what is rightfully mine. We shall defeat him truly this time. I shall run my blade through his chest myself! We shall continue to live in glory! I shall win my crown and wear it for the rest of my days! My new bride shall be a queen!"

"Yes, yes, all of it, my son," said Ethelinda, enlightened by her son's renewed boldness. "Speaking of that girl, where is she?"

Kendrick gasped. "That foul Jareth probably scared the poor, defenseless lamb into hiding," he said (A/N: he does _not_ know Sarah very well). "I shall go find her and comfort her out of her fear, _after_ I hand Jareth his own lungs." Taking one of the biggest swords that he'd packed, Kendrick rushed out of the room with a determined air about him.

Ethelinda smiled fondly after him, and then she lowered her gaze to the ground, her brow furrowed in thought. She was about to leave the room herself when she felt a presence in the room with her. She turned slowly and her face split into a relieved and loving smile.

"My sweet," she said. "You have returned at last."

Jareth stepped out of the shadows toward her. He was dressed in the white, feathered cape he had worn during his final confrontation with Sarah. His mismatched eyes were narrowed as he looked at Ethelinda, his mouth a dangerous thin line.

"You sound as if you were expecting me," he said, tilting his head as he examined her.

"I knew you'd return," she said, still eyeing him longingly as if she could not see the fury in his eyes. "Powerful beings like you cannot be contained forever. Not even by the power of the Four Winds. Oh, Jareth, you are just as beautiful as I remember. How my heart longed to free you from the ice long ago."

"Is that so?" said Jareth, his expression of suppressed rage not wavering. "Is this what you do to people you are infatuated with? Heh, I'd like to see what you do to your enemies."

Ethelinda sighed and shook her head sadly. "You gave me no choice, love. You wouldn't grant us our desire. We were in need of the Labyrinth and you denied us. The prophecy threatened our lives. Could you blame me for wanting the best for myself and my child? It wasn't my intention to steal it from you. I offered you my hand, but you wouldn't have it."

"Of course I wouldn't," said Jareth. "Why should I have? So that you can murder me in my sleep just like you did to your husband?"

Ethelinda smiled, not showing the tiniest trace of regret or shame. "My husband was weak, Jareth. The only good thing that came from my marriage to him was Kendrick. He's much stronger than his father, much more satisfactory. He wasn't like you, Jareth. You are beautiful and powerful where he was simple and weak. My marriage to him was one of convenience. He was a burden at the very least. I could get nowhere from being his bride. Why is it so difficult to see that? He had to go."

She stepped closer to him, completely unafraid of the hate in his eyes. "He's nothing compared to you. You are so special, Jareth. You are unlike anyone in the Underground. That is what makes you feared and respected by all other beings. I just look at you and my body tingles with the need to be near you. I look at you . . . and my heart burns." She reached out and placed her hands on his chest and gazed longingly at his eyes.

But Jareth was less than impressed. "Despite whatever burning that may be going on in your heart, I still ended up spending three years in the Aboveground without my memories or any idea who I was," he said, stepping back so that her hands slid off his chest. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you have the slightest clue as to what that did to me? Do you realize what you made me do? No, I don't suppose you do."

"Jareth," said Ethelinda, soothingly. "Let me . . ."

"No," snapped Jareth. "Let me tell you what it is that you've done. When I was there, I found the one that affects me just how I affect you. The one who makes my body tingle and my heart burn. I saw her there and she assumed me to be someone else. She did not recognize me, your doing most likely, and she wanted to be near me. She allowed me to be with her and, for a short while, it seemed as if we were about to fall in love. But she panicked when she learned who I was. She begged me not to return here and restore my power. She didn't want me to be me at all. So, I had no choice but to abandon her."

Ethelinda's longing smile had gone from her face and there was now a look of fear there for the first time. Jareth smiled at her discomfort.

"Don't worry," he said. "The prophecy didn't come true. She doesn't love me. She never has, so it cannot happen. Perhaps that knowledge would have stayed your hand when you sent Boreas to freeze the Labyrinth solid, along with me."

"Jareth," said Ethelinda, her voice shaking. "That girl. You can't . . . seriously . . . still . . . Jareth! That girl . . . she . . ."

"Captivates me even now," said Jareth, coldly. "I belong to her, mind, body, and soul. I am hers, even if she will never have me. I was about to let her go when you attacked me, but now that I've seen her again, my pain is restored tenfold."

"Oh, for heaven's sake," cried Ethelinda, looking scandalized. "She's only an Abovegrounder! What's so captivating about her? What makes her so . . ."

"She had faith."

"What?!"

"You don't know what it is like up there," said Jareth, staring off. "With every passing year, the people's minds become more ground based. They no longer are willing to believe in anything they cannot see. They have no use for magic, the Aboveground. They lose faith in us, the Underground. Children are still willing to listen and believe, but that faith is destroyed by those around them as they grow older. But not her. Not Sarah."

Jareth raised his eyes to Ethelinda and took a step towards her. She backed away but he continued to advance. "She believed in us, the Underground, even as she got older. She failed to lose faith in us. She knew when she called for the Goblin King to come and rid her of her baby brother, I would do it. There was no doubt in her. And when she saw me, she knew exactly who I was. She didn't suddenly assume that I was some strange man playing tricks on her. She took one look at me and knew exactly who I was, because she called to me. She believed in me. And that is what drew her to me. That is what made me admire her. That is what made me love her."

He continued towards Ethelinda, who moved steadily away. "She had faith that she could best the Labyrinth, that her words would save her, everything. She never doubted herself, no matter what I sent her way. That is what I love about her. That faith that never wavers. That beauty that is unmatched by any. She is my match in every way. She is the one I want. Do you see now, you stupid woman? You could never compete with her. Ever. My love for her is too great."

"She'll never love you back!" Ethelinda screamed. "She hates you! She hates everything about you! No matter how deep your affection for her may be, you'll never have her love in return. Ever! Even if you take out whatever vengeance that occurs to you on me and my son, you will remain a weak, pathetic little beast, basking in your loneliness, wishing you could have had the company of one who loves you! It's right here! Right in front of your eyes! Do my affections mean nothing! Curse you! Curse you and your wretched human that shall loathe you for all time! Curse you, you selfish, stupid, heartsick dog! May you die in your loneliness, you . . ."

"STOP IT!"

The two spun around. Neither of them had noticed the door open during their discussion. Standing there, her eyes thick with tears, was Sarah.

"Susan?" hissed Ethelinda. "What are you doing here? Shoo! This is . . ." But Ethelinda froze as the girl ran into the room, brushed right past her, threw her arms around Jareth's neck and pressed her mouth full against his.

**Ying-Fa: Happy now? Quick, quick, there is NO connection between Sarah and Amaranth except that they both have black hair. They look alike, but are not connected, 'kay? There was supposed to be more to this, but I swore to myself I'd post this today and this was getting too long anyway. Don't worry, it's all coming up soon. Tell me what you think (does the Terminator) **_**I'll be back!**_** Hee hee!**


	16. Have Fun Storming the Castle!

**Ying-Fa: Here we are with the next chapter. I'm so happy that you're all so happy about the last chapter. So far Zephyr has become pretty popular. I'm glad you like him. He's a cutie! And even Eurus has a fan or two. Me like! I was worried for his popularity. Okay, please read on and enjoy the show.**

Boreas hurried through the castle, looking for Sarah. He'd told her friends the plan he had in mind and everything was set. He just needed to find her and tell her what was going on and get her away from Kendrick and Ethelinda. He hurried onward trying his hardest to travel as fast as he could through the twisting and turning halls of the castle. He was just getting frustrated when he almost ran into someone.

"Eurus!"

Eurus turned to see Boreas. "Brother," he said, nodding. "Where've you been? I was beginning to wonder."

"Eurus," said Boreas, seriously. "Things have been set in motion. Tonight, we're getting rid of Ethelinda and Kendrick forever."

"What!?" said Eurus, stepping back.

"Jareth has returned," said Boreas. "The mortal who has his heart is here as well. She's blind to her feelings but if she sees him again, she will surely realize that she has fallen in love with him."

"What are . . .?"

"The prophecy, Eurus," said Boreas, significantly. "If the Goblin King and the mortal girl find love, then it will be the end of Ethelinda and Kendrick, remember? This is it, this is what it meant. Amaranth's prophecy will come true, I know it."

Eurus lowered his eyes thoughtfully. He looked back at Boreas and he suddenly looked angry. "So, I guess once Ethelinda's gone you'll be wanting a new master as well, aren't you? Just like Zephyr and Notus. They want to forget Amaranth ever existed too! You're all turning your backs on her! You're all betraying her! But I won't!"

"Eurus," said Boreas slowly. "You know that's not true. I never want to forget about Amaranth. I loved her."

"You've got a funny way of showing it!" snapped Eurus.

"I loved her so much that when I visited this castle just before Jareth was frozen in the ice I tried to make a bargain with him," said Boreas, calmly. "I told him that I'd help him escape if he agreed to free us and help me become human."

Eurus's eyes widened. "Y-you want to be human?"

"I thought I did," said Boreas. "But he said he wouldn't help me so I didn't help him."

"Why not?" asked Eurus.

"I thought that he would be angry and resentful towards the human girl who bested the Labyrinth," said Boreas. "So I told him that I wanted her in order to be human. I believe his exact reply was 'never'."

Eurus looked more confused than ever. He was eyeing his brother with something that looked like fear in his eyes. "But, in order for beings like us to gain humanity, we'd have to sacrifice a human and take their humanity from them."

"And I was so resentful and angry I would have done it," said Boreas. "I would have happily killed Sarah if it meant being rid of Ethelinda and Kendrick forever. I would have ended her life if it would take away the burden of being the North Wind."

"But even if we do become human," said Eurus. "We may be free but we become just like them. We'd become powerless and mortal beings. We'd live a few pointless years and then die."

"And I was willing to do it," said Boreas, who had nodded along as Eurus had spoken. "For Amaranth's honor, I would have done it."

"I may have said I'd rather be human than live like this," said Eurus, looking shocked. "But only in anger. I never would do such a thing. It's just wrong. It's pointless and shameful and stupid and it should never be done."

"I know that now," said Boreas. "It was stupid to ask for such a thing. I'm glad Jareth turned down my offer. If he hadn't, we might never have this opportunity to be free."

"What?"

"If I hadn't frozen Jareth, he'd never have gone to the Aboveground," said Boreas. "If he hadn't gone to the Aboveground, he never would have met Sarah again. If they hadn't met again, they wouldn't have found love in one another. They wouldn't be here now. It is because he turned me down that Amaranth's prophecy came true. I'm glad I could have a hand in her final prediction. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad for this opportunity."

Eurus lowered his gaze. Boreas walked over and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I know you miss her just as much as I do," said Boreas, softly. "But she's gone now and can't come back. I've spoken to Sarah. I've met her and, again, I'm glad Jareth stopped my ambitions of being human. She's kind and honest and true. She's not like Ethelinda at all. We will be happy with her."

"What makes you so sure she'll be our new master?" snapped Eurus.

"Let's just say it's intuition," said Boreas, slyly. "Come, Eurus, our brothers are right. It is time to move on. Let us rebel against Ethelinda and find peace in a new, kind master."

Eurus frowned deeply. "How do you know she'll be kind to us?"

"Again, intuition," said Boreas. "You haven't really gotten to speak to her yet, have you? She's a spunky little thing and pretty too!"

Eurus snorted. "Whatever," he said, grumpily. "We'll see eventually, I guess."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah could feel Jareth's surprised reaction to her kiss, but he didn't pull away. She was so intent upon what she was doing that she wouldn't let him pull away, even if he wanted to. After a moment, she felt his surprise ebb away and he responded eagerly, almost desperately. Sarah held back the urge to start crying right then and there.

_Why? Why am I so stupid? What is wrong with me? _Sarah pulled him tighter to her, hoping his nearness would stop her tears. But as he put his arms around her and held her to him, it only made the urge worse. _I'm so stupid! I always, ALWAYS have to screw up, don't I? I . . . I don't learn any other way!_

"It . . . it's . . . still you," Sarah whispered, pulling away slightly so she could speak, her voice choked with emotion. "It's still you. It's you. It's been you all along!" She buried her face in the crook of his neck and held onto him as if for dear life. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry. I've been so stupid. I didn't see it at first, and I'm sorry. It's been you this whole time. I didn't see that. I must have hurt you so badly. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jareth, I'm so sorry!"

She could see it now. It was all so clear to her now. It was like one of those embarrassing 'duh' moments, only a hundred times greater. She had always pictured Jared and Jareth as being two sides of a coin, but that wasn't right. There were no two sides. There was only one side. One person. Jared _is_ Jareth.

"Please forgive me," Sarah sobbed. "I didn't mean it. Any of it. I was just so scared. I didn't want the one I loved to disappear. But it's still you! You're here! You've been here all along. I'm sorry I didn't see it. Oh, Jareth, please forgive me!"

Jareth didn't speak for awhile, he just held her tightly. Sarah sighed slightly into him. Yes, it was the same. His arms felt the same around her, his lips had felt the same pressed against hers; it was all from the same man. The same being. Jareth.

She felt his arms squeeze her even tighter against him as he kissed her hair. Oh, it was just the same as before. "There's nothing to forgive," he said, softly. "Nothing at all. Sarah. My Sarah."

Sarah sighed in happiness as she basked in his embrace. This was right. This was where she was always meant to be. Here in his arms. The arms of her Goblin King.

"_Sarah!?_"

The two broke apart. They'd completely forgotten that Ethelinda was still in the room. She was staring at the two as if they had suddenly had snakes sprout from their heads instead of hair and had begun to spit poison. "It's . . . it's . . . it's YOU, isn't it!? YOU'RE the mortal girl! HIS mortal girl!"

"I am," said Sarah, staring Ethelinda in the face. "I came here to save him, and now I have."

"But, but, but . . ." Ethelinda looked slightly mad. Her eyes were bulging and there were veins throbbing in her neck and temple. "The human girl is supposed to HATE Jareth!"

"Not according to Amaranth's prophecy," said Sarah, harshly. "And she was right. Jareth and I did meet again, and this time," she turned back to Jareth and smiled at him with sparkling eyes. "This time I've fallen in love with him."

Jareth smiled down at her, pure love in his eyes. Ethelinda, however, was eyeing them as one would a hangman's noose. With a scream like a banshee, she tore from the room, screaming for her son. Jareth glared after her.

"She'll not get far," he said, harshly. "I've seen to that. Come; let us give those two the proper treatment they deserve."

"Jareth," said Sarah, carefully. "I understand you're furious with them, but you've gotta understand. I don't want to kill anybody, not even if they deserve it."

Jareth smiled at her lovingly. "I know, but it is what I must do, not just for us but for those that inhabit the Labyrinth. But I will not make you watch. Search for a place to hide. They'll probably come after you. Barricade yourself somewhere safe and I'll come for you later."

"O-okay," said Sarah, uncertainly. She didn't like this plan, but she somehow knew better than to try and talk him out of this. "Just . . . please be careful. She's already proven that she doesn't mind killing people."

Jareth grinned and kissed her on the forehead. "I've just found you again, haven't I? There's no chance in Hades that I'd risk losing you again."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"KENDRICK!"

"Mother!?"

"Kendrick, we've been deceived!" Ethelinda screamed, finding her son in the entrance hall. "That girl, the human girl . . ."

"Oh, did you find her?" Kendrick asked, looking relieved. "Oh, good. Poor little Susan. Was she hiding?"

"Her name isn't Susan!" shrieked Ethelinda. "It's SARAH! She's JARETH'S SARAH! We've been tricked, my son! Now it is their intent to kill us both!"

Kendrick stared at his mother then, slowly, comprehension dawned on his face. "S-Sarah? Oh! OH NO! Mother! Mother! What do we do, Mother!?"

"We must escape!" said Ethelinda, staring wildly around. "Hurry, let's get out of the Labyrinth while we still can!"

"Right!" said Kendrick, wildly spinning around and heading for the castle doors. He'd just pulled them open when.

"AAARGH!"

On the other side of the door were great, shining blades rotating menacingly. The Cleaners. Kendrick screamed in fear and ran away as the deadly machines rolled towards him and his mother. The two took off in fear, the sounds of goblin laughter echoing in their ears. They split. Ethelinda ran in one direction and Kendrick rushed into another. Kendrick stopped to draw breath when he was back in the throne room.

"Mother!" he called, but she wasn't there. In an instant, armed goblins appeared out of various hiding places throughout the throne room, brandishing swords and spears and shouting triumphant cries of glee.

"Hee hee hee!" cried one goblin Captain. "We've got the entire castle surrounded! Surrender, you savage!"

"Back away from me, vile scum," said Kendrick, drawing his own sword and brandishing it at the goblins. "You're nothing compared to me! How dare you find the gall to attack the King of the Labyrinth?"

"And just who made you king?" said a cold voice from behind him.

Kendrick turned and found himself face-to-face with Jareth. Jareth's mismatched eyes stared cruelly at Kendrick as he walked into the room. The goblins cheered at the sight of their true king.

"Yay! Jareth's back!"

"Oh ho! That other guy is in so much trouble!"

"The Goblin City is ours!"

"His hair grew back."

"You!" cried Kendrick, pointing at Jareth. "You have no power here! This castle, this kingdom, is mine now! You lost it long ago! Leave now and you'll be spared."

"Strange," said Jareth, coolly. "That's almost the exact same thing that I was about to say to you. This castle, the Labyrinth, and all that dwell here have always been, and will always be mine. You and your wretched mother are the intruders here and you've abused it long enough. If you don't step down, I'll have to hurt you."

"There will be no stepping down here!" yelled Kendrick, pulling out his sword. "I am king! I am the rightful ruler of the Labyrinth! All hail, Kendrick! Hip hip huzzah!"

Jareth rolled his eyes. The boy was delusional. The shock of everything around him falling apart must have unhinged him to the degree that he was steadily losing his mind. One minute ago, he'd had it made; now he was in danger of being skewered by a furious Goblin King and the entire Goblin City along side him.

"Well, if you won't step down," said Jareth, raising his hand and conjuring a crystal. Kendrick stared at it in horror. Jareth tossed the crystal and as it fell back into his hand it turned into a gleaming blade with a crystal handle.

Kendrick looked at Jareth's blade. He'd been afraid at first, but he now saw that it was a lot thinner and lighter than his was. Kendrick's sword was thick and long and sharp with a gold handle set with jewels. It had been a gift from his mother when he'd taken over the Labyrinth after Jareth's "death" It was, however, heavy, but that wasn't a problem for the great 'King of the Labyrinth'. "You wish to duel me for the Labyrinth?" said Kendrick, confidently. "Fine! I'll sever your head so quickly you won't notice my blade until it is already halfway through your neck!"

"Actually, I was just planning on killing you and calling it a day," said Jareth, lightly. "But, if you're desperate and frantic mind would like to call it a duel, then that's fine by me."

"Die!" roared Kendrick, using both hands to swing the sword upward and swinging it violently at Jareth. But Jareth, cool as you please, simply stepped out of the heavy blade's line of fire and sank his own blade into Kendrick's thigh. Kendrick shrieked in pain and let his sword fall with a loud clang.

The goblins cheered in delight as their king walked in a circle around Kendrick, tapping the tip of his sword into the palm of his free hand.

"Don't do this to yourself, you idiot," he said, irritably. "You're no match for me."

"We'll see who is no match for whom!" Kendrick yelled, a mad confidence in his watering eyes. "Fight like a man, Jareth!"

Jareth merely sighed and readied himself for the next attack.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah hurried through the twisted halls of the Escher room. She needed to find the four winds. Jareth needed all the help he could get, and she was going to help him. Ethelinda had used the power of the winds to take control of the Labyrinth last time, but that wasn't about to happen again. She'd met them and they all seemed to hate working for Ethelinda. If she could just persuade them to help her instead . . .

"You!"

Sarah gasped and spun around. It was Ethelinda.

"Wretched girl!" she shrieked. "You will not ruin this for me! You will not destroy all that I have worked for." Ethelinda advanced on Sarah, pulling a knife out from behind her back. "We'll see just how strong Jareth is when his beloved lies in pieces at his feet!"

**Ying-Fa: Okay, okay, evil cliffhanger, I know. But if I didn't end it here, this would have gone on for hours. I'm going on another vacation . . .**

**Nagini-chan: Not again!**

**Ying-Fa: Yes, again! But this time it will be shorter. I'm heading out on Thursday and will be back Monday. If I'm quick about it, I'll have another chapter updated before I leave. So, please, tell me what you think and I may have another chapter ready for you before I head out.**


	17. World I Love

**Ying-Fa: I apologize for the delay. It just so happened that the very day after I came home, more of my family came over to spend a day with us. So, I've been unable to write much. But, without any further ado whatsoever, here it is! Warning: There's gonna be some pretty unpleasant descriptions of death in this chapter. So the squeamish must be aware.**

Sarah stared at Ethelinda in terror as the woman raised her knife in the air. But she wasn't about to go down without a fight. She refused to let it end like this. She was prepared to fight, scratch, pull, and bite if it meant getting away from this woman. She wasn't going to let Ethelinda separate her from Jareth again.

Fortunately for Sarah, however, there was no need.

Just as Ethelinda was about to swing the knife at Sarah, something small and furry jumped onto her back and stared to climb up her hair.

"EEEK!"

"BACK! GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU KNAVE! YOU ROUGE!"

The creature reached the top of Ethelinda's head and was revealed to be none other than Sir Didymus himself. The little fox growled in rage and started whacking Ethelinda over the head repeatedly with his staff, barking and growling. Ethelinda screamed and tried to throw him off.

"Get off me! Get off me, you filthy little mutt!"

"Ruff! I shall do no such thing, you cad!" shrieked Sir Didymus, still hitting her over the head. "I never back down from a battle! My lady, flee! I shall handle the matters here! Taste my staff, you yellow-bellied mongrel!"

"Sarah! Is that you!?"

"Sawah!"

Sarah turned to see her other friends, Hoggle and Ludo, running towards her down the various steps. Sarah beamed at the sight of them. "Hoggle! Ludo! Are you guys . . . ?"

But at that moment, Sir Didymus went flying right past Sarah and collided with Hoggle. Ethelinda had thrown him right off her back and advanced on Sarah again. The knife had fallen out of her hand when Didymus had attacked, but there was no stopping her. She reached out and wrapped both hands around Sarah's throat and squeezed with all her might. Sarah gasped and choked, her knees giving way. The two women fell over, Ethelinda still strangling her with all the strength she had.

Sarah's friends weren't about to give up without a fight. Both Didymus and Hoggle grabbed handfuls of Ethelinda's platinum hair and pulled with all their might. Ludo, roaring loudly in fear and concern, grabbed Sarah's shoulders and tried to pull her out of Ethelinda's hands, but the older woman's grip was iron clad and her determination drove her to a point of insanity that pushed passed the pain of her hair being pulled out.

"I . . . won't let you . . . destroy . . . all that I have . . . worked for!" Ethelinda screamed, squeezing tighter and tighter.

Sarah tried to cry out, but it was impossible. She was torn between Ethelinda's crushing grip and Ludo trying to tug her to safety. Tiny white lights began popping in her eyes as the need for air got worse and worse.

_No!_ Sarah thought, desperately. _No! I won't lose! I need to survive. I can't die now! Not when I've only just found him . . ._

"Ethelinda! Stop!"

Arms appeared out of nowhere and hoisted the woman off Sarah. Boreas and Eurus had grabbed Ethelinda around the waist while Zephyr and Notus pried her hands off Sarah's neck. She coughed and gasped, gulping down air like water.

"My lady!" cried Didymus, rushing over to her side with Hoggle. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes," Sarah choked out. "I-I'm okay, you guys."

"Sawah," purred Ludo. "Sawah back. Ludo miss Sawah."

"I've missed you guys too," said Sarah, beaming at all of them.

"YOU!" Ethelinda screamed when she noticed who it was that had stopped her. "YOU TRAITORS! YOU VILE THINGS!"

"This is enough Ethelinda," cried Boreas, trying to keep a good hold on his master. "Please! No more! There's no need for more violence!"

"Get off of me you idiots!" screamed Ethelinda, kicking and squirming her way out of their grasp. She shoved them so that they almost went toppling down the endless stairs. She briskly grabbed her knife, but instead of going for Sarah, she went over to Boreas and Eurus. "You've betrayed me for the LAST TIME!"

Boreas reached over and lay protectively against Eurus, shielding him from Ethelinda's knife. Zephyr looked over and cried out, "Boreas! Eurus! No Ethelinda! No!"

Sarah looked over at what was about to happen.

"No!" she cried. She pulled herself up off the ground and sprinted away from her friends and shoved Ethelinda as hard as she could. Too hard. Both women when flying down the stairs of the Escher room. Sarah cried out as stone steps collided with her arms and legs and back as she fell and fell. She could hear the horrified cries of her friends and the Four Winds as well as the muffled thuds of Ethelinda falling down alongside her.

At last, Sarah hit a landing and falling stopped. She heard a loud thud next to her and knew Ethelinda had come to a stop as well. Then she heard frantic footsteps.

"My lady!"

"Sarah!"

"Sawah!"

"I . . . I'm okay," Sarah called to them, struggling to sit up. Everything was aching so badly. Next to her, Ethelinda didn't move. Zephyr, who was the lightest and flightiest of the bunch, reached Sarah first.

"Sarah, are you alright?" he said. "Is your head okay? Is your neck okay? Is your nose okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," said Sarah, rubbing her aching head.

"Sarah!" cried Hoggle, hobbling over to her as fast as his stubby feet would allow. "That hag didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No, I'm fine," she said. But then she looked over at Ethelinda. She was still lying there and Sarah could see something dark leaking onto the floor around her. "Oh!"

Sarah took hold of the woman's shoulder and turned her over onto her back. She gasped. Then knife she had been holding onto as she fell was now sunk deeply into her chest. Her eyes were wide and a trickle of blood was leaking out of her mouth.

"Oh my . . ." Sarah gasped as she registered just what she was seeing.

"J . . . J . . ." Ethelinda choked out.

"What?" said Sarah.

"J . . . Jar . . . eth . . . ."

Sarah gasped again as Ethelinda's eyes became glassy and lifeless and she moved no more.

"Alas, villainess though she might have been, an unnecessary way to depart," said Didymus, wiping off his hat in respect. Hoggle, however, merely said "Bah!" and waved his hand dully before turning his attention to Sarah.

"You okay, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah couldn't really find it in her to answer him. Ethelinda was dead. She wouldn't be dead if Sarah hadn't pushed her. But then, if she hadn't pushed her, she'd have killed Boreas and Eurus. Sarah raised her eyes to the Four Winds. They stared down at the body of their master. There was no sadness there. In unison, they turned around to look at Sarah and then, together, they bowed their heads.

"Wh-what are you doing?" said Sarah, getting to her feet.

"Thank you," said Boreas, softly. "Thank you, master."

"What?" Sarah gasped. "What did you call me? Wh-what are you all doing? Please, straighten up."

"But we want to bow," said Zephyr. "It's a sign of good faith to our new master."

"I'm nobody's master," said Sarah, flatly. "Please . . . all of you . . ."

"You saved our lives," said Notus. "You protected us from Ethelinda. You put yourself in the way of danger for our sake. Now, Ethelinda is gone. Our old master has passed on and now you have taken her place."

"What?" Sarah was stunned by what they were saying. "No. No, I can't possibly be your master. I just can't."

"It's easier than it sounds," said Boreas, straightening and smiling at her. "All you have to do is direct us and our powers to the purpose of good in the Underground. You can do that, I'm sure."

"But . . . but . . ."

"It's alright," said Zephyr, smiling brightly. "Something tells me you'll do a great job. And if you get confused, you always do have Jareth to help you. He knows a thing or two about leading."

"Jareth," said Sarah slowly, and then she gasped. "Jareth! Oh no, where is he?"

"We heard a commotion in the throne room on our way here," said Hoggle, pointing up another twisted flight of stairs. "He's probably in there."

"I have to go to him," said Sarah, desperately.

"We'll come along with you, my lady," said Didymus. "Come Sir Hoggle, Sir Ludo."

"We'll come along as well," said Boreas, glancing down at Ethelinda's body. "We have no need to stay here."

"Okay," said Sarah. "Come on, everyone."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Hee hee hee!"

"Get 'im boss!"

"Sock it to him!"

"Sock it to him! Sock it to him!"

The goblins cheered and laughed nastily as Jareth's and Kendrick's duel went on. Kendrick, by now, was exhausted. He'd failed to even touch Jareth and he was not covered in various scratches and small stab wounds all over his arms, legs, and torso from where Jareth's rapier had sliced at him.

"Give up already," snapped Jareth, glaring down at Kendrick with his sword dripping blood. "Drop your sword and I'll make it quick. Don't make me draw it out any further. It isn't worth my time. I still have to find your dear mother as well."

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY . . ." Kendrick screamed, but then he stopped. An idea had just occurred to him. "Well, if you're so keen to have a go at my mother, go right ahead and start looking for her. This can wait. I don't mind. But while you're gone, I'll just go off and take out my frustrations on your pretty mortal girl."

Something dark and very dangerous flashed in Jareth's eyes. That was exactly what Kendrick wanted. "I mean, seriously," he continued, staring up at Jareth with cruel eyes. "She is _veeeeeery_ pretty. Perhaps she might be worthy of my _special attentions._"

"You will not go anywhere near her," growled Jareth.

"Says you," said Kendrick, leering. "Oh, man. I can't wait to hear her call me 'master' as she attends to my needs. Ah, I can see it now. She's just so . . ."

"ENOUGH!" roared Jareth, attacking again. Kendrick was ready this time. He swung his sword to block Jareth's attack and hurled it around again for his own attack. Jareth just barely managed to avoid getting his head cut off as the huge blade swung right over him as he ducked to dodge the blow.

Kendrick laughed. "Getting angry, Jareth?" he said. "Best not lose your focus. The poor mortal will be so upset when I kill you. And who better to comfort her than me? Tell me, just what does she taste like?"

Jareth felt another stab of rage at Kendrick for speaking about Sarah in such a way. But this time, he kept calm. He knew what Kendrick's game was. He was using his feelings for Sarah against him. Kendrick knew how Jareth would feel if he spoke about Sarah like that. But he wouldn't allow it to happen again. Idiot though Kendrick was, it was foolish to underestimate anyone you were battling against.

"She'll be mine when you're dead," said Kendrick, raising his sword again. "All mine! Now DIE!"

Jareth slid gracefully out of attack of Kendrick's sword and sank the tip of his blade right into Kendrick's wrist. He cried out and dropped the blade where it clanged on the ground as it fell. Jareth pulled his sword back, aiming for the chest this time. It was time at last to put an end to this nuisance. But just as Jareth was about to strike, Kendrick, all sanity forgotten, grabbed Jareth's sword with both hands.

Jareth was temporarily stunned by this insane move and foolishly weakened his grip on the sword. Kendrick, his hands bleeding furiously from holding the sword, put his foot on Jareth's chest and, with a wild cry, kicked him away. Jareth's sword came free from his hand and he fell to the ground.

"Highness!"

"Boss!"

"King!"

The goblins watched in horror as Kendrick leered over the Goblin King, his new weapon poised to kill. Jareth eyed his own rapier warily as it came nearer and nearer to his throat.

"I win," breathed Kendrick. Then he began to laugh and laugh hysterically. "I win! I WIN!" He raised the sword, his eyes full of mad triumph. But . . .

"Boreas! Stop him!"

Kendrick froze. Literally. In a gust of frigid wind, his arms became incased with thick ice. Before anything else could happen, Jareth reached over for Kendrick's dropped sword, cried "Sarah, cover your eyes!" and swung it once.

Swish.

Slice.

Thunk.

With once swing of the enormous blade, Kendrick's head came off clean and landed on the ground with a soft thud. The rest of him fell after it, crumpling into a heap on the floor. Jareth let out his breath in a long, drawn-out sigh.

There was a pause, and then the goblins began cheering at the tops of their voices. The foolish, false king of the Labyrinth was dead. It was over.

"It's over!"

"We did it!"

"The Labyrinth is ours again!"

"All hail Jareth, the true Goblin King!"

"Hip hip huzzah!"

Through the noise, Jareth looked over at the doorway that leads to the Escher room. There stood Sarah, her friends, and the Four Winds. He knew Sarah had been there because he had heard her cry out to Boreas to help him. But now the Winds and Sarah's friends were celebrating at the top of their voices along with the surrounding goblins. Sarah herself had her face lowered and covered. She'd closed her eyes as he'd instructed, but still didn't want to see what he had done to Kendrick. Jareth walked over to her and took her face in his hands.

Sarah opened her eyes and stared right back at him. There was no fear there, only relief and happiness. Oh, how beautiful she was. He smiled warmly down at her and she smiled right back. But then he remembered.

"Ethelinda," he said, tearing his eyes away from Sarah's gorgeous face to look for the witch. But Sarah placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," she said. "She's gone too. She . . . fell down the stairs . . . with a knife in her hand."

Jareth turned back to her and nodded. "I see. So it is over."

"It's finally over?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," he said. "They're both dead. The Labyrinth is mine again. We are free."

Sarah gasped in happiness and through her arms around him. Jareth returned her embrace, basking in the great happiness and relief that filled his entire being. He pulled back slightly and turned to look at the surrounding goblins.

"Well?" he said, sharply. "What are you all doing, standing around? Go on, clean up this mess! From what I hear, the Escher room needs cleaning too! Come on, step to!"

The goblins jumped and went obediently to work. They were all so busy, nobody noticed the Goblin King and his beloved come together in an embraced kiss of blissful abandon.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

A long while later, Sarah and Jareth sat comfortably in Jareth's chambers. Night had fallen and the Labyrinth had finally become warm and alive and completely restored to its former glory.

"Sarah," said Jareth, softly.

"Mm?" Sarah mumbled.

"Just what exactly did you want to happen next?" he asked.

Sarah grinned playfully at him. "Just what are you insinuating, Goblin King?"

Jareth grinned right back. "I mean about you," he said. "The Labyrinth is mine again and I must stay here as its King. I cannot neglect it as I did ever again. However, I would find it a much . . . easier thing to do if I had a beautiful Queen with which to share it with. But," he added. "If you would rather return to the Aboveground I . . . I'll respect your decision."

Sarah blinked at him. "Of course I don't want to go back," she said, simply.

Jareth stared at her. "But . . . your family . . . your school . . . your job . . ."

"Don't worry about that," said Sarah. "My job can go on without me and if I had to keep living with Jessie for much longer, I was going to creak. As for my family," she hesitated. "We have been kinda . . . drifting apart since I went off to college. But still," she looked up at him hopefully, "visits are always possible, aren't they?"

Jareth smiled at her. "Of course."

"And besides," said Sarah, beaming at him. "The Four Winds seem to want me to be their new caretaker. Even Eurus said he'd like me to have the job. I guess he's grateful for my helping him and Boreas when Ethelinda was going to attack them. I can't take care of them when I'm in the Aboveground, now can I?"

"I should think not," said Jareth.

"But," said Sarah, nervously. "I . . . I don't really know what to do."

"I'll help you," said Jareth, stroking her hair soothingly. "And they'll tell you what you should do, if you get lost. I know you'll do just fine, my love."

"I hope so," said Sarah, hugging him close. "I really hope so."

"I know so," whispered Jareth, kissing her hair. "You are wise and full of faith, my darling. You are just the one the Four Winds need to be their governess. And just what I need for my bride. That is, if you'll have me."

"Of course," said Sarah, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "I'm right where I belong. Right here, in the world I love, with you."

**Ying-Fa: There you are people. Just the epilogue left and THAT IS IT! Wow, I can't believe I'm almost done. Anyway, leave your reviews and I'll try to finish the epilogue in the next day or two. Keep loving me!**


	18. Epilouge: At the Beginning

**Ying-Fa: Man, I was not expecting it to take this long. Oh, well. This is it, people, the final installment of Once Upon A December. Please, enjoy.**

Alfred Campbell sighed as he looked out the window. It was the first snow of the winter. He somehow knew that today would be the day it snowed. He always had a good instinct of when the winter would come. Especially after all these years, when . . .

"Daddy!"

Al turned to see his three children, two girls and one boy, running towards him, looking excited. "Daddy, did you see? It's snowing outside!"

"It most certainly is," said Al, turning to smile at the powdery snow falling on the other side of the glass of his sitting room window.

"Can we go play in it?" asked his eldest daughter. "Can we? Can we?"

"I don't know," said Al, teasingly. "Did you ask your mother?"

"She said to ask you," said his younger daughter, with a playful giggle.

"Did she?" said Al, with a little laugh. "Well, alright then. You guys can go, but come back inside before it gets dark, okay?"

"Yay!" his daughters shrieked. His son, however, came closer to him.

"Daddy," he asked. "Can you come out with us?"

"Nah, not today," said Al, lightly. "I've got some work to do. But if I get done sooner than I thought, I may come out, okay?"

His son smiled. "Okay," he said brightly.

"Jared!" whined the girls. "Come _on._ Or we'll leave without you!"

"I'm coming," snapped Jared, and he ran off after his sisters.

Al smiled fondly as he watched them go. Truth be told, he never really thought he'd have children of his own. He'd been a young, flighty bachelor a few years ago, but then the wicked age of thirty snuck up on him and he decided that it might be best if he took the advice of many of his friends and settled down. He met up with Vanessa, a girl who had been in a "friends-only" relationship with him ever since they were teens and ended up marrying her. Now, Al was simply enjoying his settled-down life with his wife and children.

Al opened the window and stuck his head out. The icy winter wind bit at his face as he pulled a cigarette from inside his shirt pocket and lit it with a lighter on the windowsill. He'd cut back on his habit, but he could never resist smoking at least once when the snow started to fall. It reminded him of a good ten years ago when he was still teaching dance classes in the city.

He never knew what had become of Jared. If that, indeed, was his name. The man he had found frozen in the snow and had kept him company over the years. Al didn't even know when Jared had disappeared, exactly. A few days into the New Year, Jared's shrink, Dr. Henson, had called him to ask him if he knew where Jared was. Henson had told him that Jared had missed two appointments already and he was concerned as to where he was. Al, feeling alarmed, when to Jared's apartment to find it abandoned.

The police were summoned, but they didn't find anything. They found a pair of woman's gloves in the apartment and the blanket from the bed had been found on the couch. Other than that, there was nothing suspicious. There was no sign of a struggle. Some of Jared's welfare money had been found untouched. All they could guess is that Jared simply got up and walked right out of the apartment of his own accord.

Al sighed. That was years ago. But Jared hadn't been the only one to suddenly stop showing up in his life. Once dance classes had resumed, Al had questioned one of his students about a girl that Jared seemed to be connecting with.

Jessie had seemed a little sad when he brought up the subject. "She didn't come back after Christmas break," she said. "I looked for her at her work, I even called her folk's house, but they said she left in the middle of the night. 'Totally out of the blue' as the woman on the other line said. I think that might have been her stepmother. She sounded pissed. Anyway, she hasn't come to school and she hasn't gone to work either. It's unlike her to just vanish into thin air like that, you know?"

Al took another pull on his cigarette and watched the smoke flow lazily from his lips. The case involving the man called "Jared" was never fully explained. Still, Al wasn't really worried about Jared. Or Sarah, for that matter.

"Honey? Ah, honey, I told you not to start that up again."

Al turned to see his wife coming over to him. "I'm only doing it once more," said Al, brightly.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, but she was still smiling. "Well, just one then you go right into the bathroom and brushing your teeth. And I'm not going to kiss you again until you do."

"Eek! I surrender," said Al, playfully. He flicked the cigarette out into the damp, snow-ridden ground and closed the window.

"That's more like it," said Vanessa. But then she frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay," said Al, smiling at her. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Vanessa, turning her head to the side as she examined her husband. "You just seem a bit down."

"Do I look down?"

"No, I can just tell," said Vanessa. "Sometimes, if you're upset or thinking depressing thoughts and the like, something in your eyes goes out. But, that's probably just me imagining things." She shrugged and headed for the kitchen. "I was going to make hot chocolate for the kids when they decide to come back inside. Did you want some?"

"Um, not now," said Al, smiling after his wife. "Maybe later."

Al went upstairs into the bedroom he shared with his wife. One of the many reasons that he married Vanessa is that she had a way of telling him exactly what he needed to hear at the right time and also that she seemed to know him almost better than he knew himself. As he entered their room, he heard the radio was on. Vanessa always liked background noise. As he searched the room for what he was looking for, he heard a song come on.

_**"We were strangers, starting out on a journey**_

_**Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through**_

_**Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing**_

_**At the beginning with you."**_

Al smiled fondly at the music as he rummaged through his things. He'd heard this song before and it, like the falling snow brought him back to those years. But, unlike the snow, it always made him feel better rather than depressed. It seemed to give him hope that, wherever he was, Jared was just fine.

_**"No one told me, I was going to find you**_

_**Unexpected, what you did to my heart**_

_**When I lost hope, you were there to remind me**_

_**This is the start."**_

Al began to hum along as the chorus struck up. He found what he was looking for. A worn out envelope with two things inside. When Al had gone to the apartment complex to look for Jared, a guard approached him and had handed him this envelope.

"He said to give this to you," the guard had told him.

Al had taken it at once and found what was inside. He'd kept it a secret from everyone. The police, Dr. Henson, even his wife didn't know about this note. That's because he was the only one who would understand it. And he wanted it kept that way.

_Al,_

_I've broken down the wall at last. Now, I'm going over to the other side. Don't try to understand, but don't worry about me either. The charity you've shown me will not go unrewarded, I promise you that. Take care._

_J._

_**"And life is a road and I wanna keep going,**_

_**Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing,**_

_**Life is a road, now and forever**_

_**A wonderful journey."**_

Al smiled as he read the letter. Sitting inside the envelope along with it was twenty dollars. It was the money that Jared had promised to pay him back when he got a job. But Al had made a promise never to spend this money. It was all that was left of a memory.

Al leaned back on his bed and thought more deeply. Since Jared disappeared just as quickly as he appeared, Al couldn't help but notice that a lot of things had gone right for him. He got a better job. He'd been able to dance on Broadway. He'd bought a house. He was now married to a lovely woman who loved him for who he was. He had three great kids. Had this been what Jared had meant when he said that his charity would be rewarded. Well, if this is what he got for helping out strange men he found half-buried in the snow, he ought to do it more often.

He put the note back in the drawer where he found it and looked out his bedroom window. He could see his children twirling around in the snow and he lifted his gaze to the sky. What was that he saw flying in the sky?

_**"I'll be there when the world stops turning**_

_**I'll be there when the storm is through**_

_**In the end, I wanna be standing**_

_**At the beginning."**_

Al watched as the white barn owl flew higher into the sky and disappeared into the snowy skies.

_**"With you."**_

* * *

**Lyrics from: "At the Beginning" by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis**

**Ying-Fa: Finite, people! Thank you everyone who read my story. I really appreciate all of your input and all those who reviewed for every chapter (though I think I might have scared a few people away after that last one). Sorry, folks. No sequel is planned. This was planned as one story and will stay that way.**

**I feel so grateful! Thank you:**

**Ying and Yang twins, Kore-of-Myth, AmericanWoman, FaeriesMidwife, ghostdolly, notwritten, comedychik 84, alib 1989, hazlgrnLizzy, samuraistar, shadowxwolf, theravenwaits, Pateena (thank you so much for the poem!), bahjcb, Fire Shifter, Shadow of Darkness 22, helikesitheymikey, CoffeeKris (and Jareth, tee hee!), JoytoDemFishies 101, LDeetz, Thundara, 13figureskater-Draco'sgirl, E. Jane, Tennyo Ch'ang-o, Katchelle 87, EClaire W, L.A. Cornelius, peaceharmony, HeartonaChain, maskedpainter, sunkissedvampire, Rahpsody, Princess of the Fae, Flame Wightstar, Sylistra the scholar, mirror-child, LabyLvrPhx, Panda Pearr, keske, WE'VE STARTED A TREND, Jack Hawksmoor, Maantje, Tator Tots and everyone who put this story and me to their Favorites and/or Alerts list. This has been Ying-Fa-Dono, signing off! Goodnight and Good luck!**


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